Synergetic effect of Fe decorated MnO2 nanocatalyst application in propane and benzyl alcohol oxidation

• α–Fe 2 O 3 NPs decorated over MnO 2 nanorods surface (Fe/MnO 2 NRs). • Fe in MnO 2 NRs promotes SMSI and thus, increases the reducibility of Mn 4+ to Mn 3+. • Surface adsorbed oxygen (O ads .) enhanced the oxidation activity. • Optimal 10 wt% Fe/MnO2NRs exhibited the highest catalytic activity. In heterogeneous catalysis, one of the key challenges is to develop inexpensive and abundant materials. Herein, spherically shaped α–Fe 2 O 3 nanoparticles decorated over MnO 2 nanorods surface (Fe/MnO 2 NRs) was synthesized via hydrothermal followed by co–precipitation methods. Experimental results indicated that the inclusion of Fe in MnO 2 NRs promotes a strong interaction that increases the reducibility of Mn 4+ to Mn 3+ and surface adsorbed oxygen (O ads. ), which in turn increases the activation of surface oxygen on MnO 2 NRs. The 10 wt% Fe–loaded catalyst (10Fe/MnO 2 NRs) exhibited the highest catalytic activity. It was observed that oxidizing 10 % (T 10 ), 50 % (T 50 ), and 90 % (T 90 ) of propane required temperatures of 140 °C, 180 °C, and 220 °C, respectively. This catalyst showed stability in H 2 O atmospheres and apparent activation energy as low as 52.54 kJ mol −1 . In addition, the vapour phase oxidation of benzyl alcohol (BnOH) over different Fe–loaded MnO 2 NRs catalysts is investigated The rate of BnOH oxidation over 10Fe/MnO 2 NRs catalyst is 1.71 times greater than bare MnO 2 NRs at 240 °C. The increased oxygen vacancies can improve the oxidation activity of propane and BnOH by facilitating the adsorption and activation of O 2 to produce reactive oxygen species. This work offers a novel approach to increase manganese oxides surface oxygen activity, which can be used to create efficient catalysts for the low–temperature decomposition of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other organic functional group transformations via oxidation reaction.