The effect of Ce ion substituted OMS-2 nanostructure in catalytic activity for benzene oxidation

The nanostructure of Ce doped OMS-2 plays a very important role in its catalytic property. We demonstrate by density functional theory (DFT) calculations that the unique nanostructure of the Ce ion substituted OMS-2 with Mn vacancy in the framework is beneficial for the improvement of catalytic activity, while the nanostructure of the Ce ion substituted OMS-2 without defects are detrimental to the catalytic activity. We establish a novel and facile strategy of synthesizing these unique Ce ion substituted OMS-2 nanostructure with Mn vacancies in the framework by hydrothermal redox reaction between Ce(NO3)3 and KMnO4 with KMnO4/Ce(NO3)3 at a molar ratio of 3 : 1 at 120 °C. Compared to pure OMS-2, the produced catalyst of Ce ion substituted OMS-2 ultrathin nanorods exhibits an enormous enhancement in the catalytic activity for benzene oxidation, which is evidenced by a significant decrease (ΔT(50) = 100 °C, ΔT(90) = 129 °C) in the reaction temperature of T50 and T90 (corresponding to the benzene conversion = 50% and 90%), which is considerably more efficient than the expensive supported noble metal catalyst (Pt/Al2O3). We combine both theoretical and experimental evidence to provide a new physical insight into the significant effect due to the defects induced by the Ce ion substitution on the catalytic activity of OMS-2. The formation of unique Ce ion substituted OMS-2 nanostructure with Mn vacancies in the framework leads to a significant enhancement of the lattice oxygen activity, thus tremendously increasing the catalytic activity.