Facile Synthesis of MnO2@SiO2/Carbon Nanocomposite-based Gold Catalysts from Rice Husk for Low-Temperature CO Oxidation

Herein, MnO 2 @SiO 2 /C was produced from rice husk derived SiO 2 /carbon composite and MnO 2 via hydrothermal method. The nanostructure gave good microstructural, morphological properties with highly catalytic properties. The hybrid catalyst comprising of MnO 2 @SiO 2 /C nanocomposite-supported gold nanoparticles was successfully fabricated by the novel solid grinding and tested for CO oxidation’s application. MnO 2 nanoballs are 5 − 8 nm in diameter with a shell thickness of 1 nm, packing with laminar [MnO 6 ] unit cells. The as-prepared gold catalysts containing 2wt% of Au loading, exhibited 50% CO conversion and a high specific activity of 0.21 mol CO g Au −1 h −1 at 38 °C. Graphic Abstract MnO2@SiO2/C nanocomposite-supported gold nanoparticles were prepared by solid grinding using a non-volatile organogold(III) complex and rice husk. The catalysts showed high activity for CO oxidation.