Nanostructured manganese oxide on silica aerogel: a new catalyst toward water oxidation

Herein we report on the synthesis and characterization of nano-sized Mn oxide/silica aerogel with low density as a good catalyst toward water oxidation. The composite was synthesized by a simple and low-cost hydrothermal procedure. In the next step, we studied the composite in the presence of cerium(IV) ammonium nitrate and photo-produced Ru(bpy) ₃³⁺ as a water-oxidizing catalyst. The low-density composite is a good Mn-based catalyst with turnover frequencies of ~0.3 and 0.5 (mmol O₂/(mol Mn·s)) in the presence of Ru(bpy) ₃³⁺ and cerium(IV) ammonium nitrate, respectively. In addition to the water-oxidizing activities of the composite under different conditions, its self-healing reaction in the presence of cerium(IV) ammonium nitrate was also studied.