Nanostructured manganese oxide on frozen smoke: A new water-oxidizing composite

M. M. Najafpour, S. Salimi, S. Esmael Balaghi, M. Hołyńska, T. Tomo, Moayad Hossaini Sadr, Behzad Soltani, J. R. Shen, T. N. Veziroglu, Suleyman Allakhverdiev

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

24 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The water-oxidizing complex or oxygen-evolving complex in plants, algae and cyanobacteria is an Mn4CaO5 cluster catalysing light-induced water oxidation. Herein we report that nano-sized Mn oxide/carbon aerogel is an active and low-density catalyst toward water oxidation. The composite was synthesized by a simple, low-cost procedure with different ratio of carbon aerogel to Mn oxide and characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive spectroscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, electronic spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and atomic absorption spectroscopy. Then, the water-oxidizing activity of this composite was considered in the presence of cerium(IV) ammonium nitrate. The composites with a high ratio of Mn oxide to carbon aerogel are good Mn-based catalysts with turnover frequencies of ∼0.33 (mmol O2/(mol Mn·s)). In addition to the water-oxidizing activities of these composites under different conditions, their self-healing reaction in the presence of cerium(IV) ammonium nitrate was studied. We also compare the composite with graphene quantum dots/Mn oxide, which is not stable under these conditions. Using hydrogen to store sustainable energies is a promising strategy in the near future and our results show that nano-sized Mn oxide/carbon aerogel is a promising catalyst for water-splitting systems toward hydrogen evolution.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2466-2476
Number of pages11
JournalInternational Journal of Hydrogen Energy
Volume41
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 30 2016

Keywords

  • Artificial photosynthesis
  • Carbon aerogel
  • Manganese oxide
  • Nanotechnology
  • Oxygen
  • Self-healing
  • Water oxidation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • Fuel Technology
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology

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