Pt–Pd bimetallic nanoparticles anchored on uniform mesoporous MnO2 sphere as an advanced nanocatalyst for highly efficient toluene oxidation

Improving catalytic performance is a yet still challenge in thermal catalytic oxidation. Herein, uniform mesoporous MnO2 nanosphere-supported bimetallic Pt–Pd nanoparticles were successfully fabricated via a SiO2 template strategy for the total catalytic degradation of volatile organic compounds at low temperature. The introduction of mesopores into the MnO2 support induces a large specific surface area and pore size, thus providing numerous accessible active sites and enhanced diffusion properties. Moreover, the addition of a secondary noble metal can adjust the Oads/Olatt molar ratios, resulting in high catalytic activity. Among them, the catalyst having a Pt/Pd molar ratio of 7:3 exhibits optimized catalytic activity at a weight hourly space velocity of 36,000 ml g−1 h−1, reaching 100% toluene oxidation at 175 °C with a lower activation energy (57.0 kJ mol−1) than the corresponding monometallic Pt or non-Pt-based catalysts (93.8 kJ mol−1 and 214.2 kJ mol−1). Our findings demonstrate that the uniform mesoporous MnO2 nanosphere-supported bimetallic Pt–Pd nanoparticles catalyst is an effective candidate for application in elimination of toluene. Uniform mesoporous MnO2 nanosphere-supported bimetallic Pt–Pd nanoparticles were successfully fabricated using hard templates for the total catalytic degradation of volatile organic compounds at low temperature. The introduction of mesopores into the MnO2 support induces a large specific surface area and pore size, thus providing numerous accessible active sites and enhanced diffusion properties. Moreover, the addition of a secondary noble metal can adjust the Oads/Olatt molar ratios, resulting in high catalytic activity. [Display omitted] •Uniform mesoporous MnO2 nanosphere-supported bimetallic Pt–Pd nanoparticles were fabricated using hard templates.•The introduction of mesopores induces a large specific surface area providing numerous accessible active sites.•The addition of a secondary noble metal can adjust the Oads/Olatt molar ratios, resulting in high catalytic activity.•The catalyst having a Pt/Pd molar ratio of 7:3 exhibits optimized activity, reaching 100% toluene oxidation at 175 °C.