Facile Synthesis of Activated Carbon-Supported Porous Manganese Oxide via in situ Reduction of Permanganate for Ozone Decomposition

Lichen-like porous manganese oxides (MnOx) with birnessite-type structure, which were assembled with curled nanosheets (less than 10 nm in thickness), were deposited in situ on the surface of activated carbon (AC) via facile reduction of permanganate by AC, and were tested for the decomposition of ozone, a common air pollutant. Despite the low Mn loading (typically 0.04%–0.14%), the as-synthesized MnOx/AC catalysts exhibited high catalytic activity and stability for ozone decomposition at room temperature and high relative humidity, which can be attributed to the enrichment of the Mn element on the catalyst surface and a well-organized porous surface morphology of MnOx.