FROM BULK TO NANOSCALE: Δ-MNO2 AS A WATER OXIDATION CATALYST

摘要

Cheap and efficient water-oxidation catalysts remain one of the major hurdles in the implementation of a hydrogen economy. A promising solution to this hurdle is the use of inexpensive oxide minerals. Studies of water oxidation by δ-MnO2 materials are of particular interest due to synthetically tunable physical and chemical properties. In our work, we investigated the roles of manganese oxidation state in both the bulk and monolayer nanosheet manganese oxides. Preliminary results indicate a strong correlation between lower average oxidation state manganese, lower overpotentials and increased catalytic activity. In addition to these studies, we find greater activity in nanosheet manganese oxides as compared to their bulk counterparts.