Controlled growth of γ-MnO nanoflakes on OMS-2 for efficient decomposition of organic dyes in aqueous solution via peroxymonosulfate activation.

The development of green and efficient catalysts for peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation and abatement of organic pollutants in wastewater is of significant practical interest. In this paper, the three-dimensional mixed manganese oxides of OMS-2 and γ-MnO were fabricated through a simple refluxing method from KMnO and MnSO. It was found that growth of γ-MnO nanoflakes on OMS-2 can be controlled by the concentration of MnSO. The catalysts not only have many excellent structural properties such as interconnected network and highly exposed active sites, but also show the high ratio of low valent manganese species. In particular, the catalysts exhibited much higher efficiency for Acid Orange 7 degradation in the presence of PMS than pure OMS-2 or γ-MnO. The oxidation of Mn(III) species by PMS occurs in the system with the formation of sulfate and hydroxyl radicals contributed to the dye degradation. Moreover, the catalysts showed good stability and reusability during four consecutive cycles. Thus, the environmental friendly mixed manganese oxides of γ-MnO and OMS-2 with low cost, facile synthesis process and high efficiency are very promising catalysts for PMS activation and pollutants degradation.