Fabrication of highly dispersed Pd-Mn₃O₄ catalyst for efficient catalytic propane total oxidation

Adjusting the interaction between dual active components for enhancing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) degradation is an effective but still challenging means of air pollution control. Herein, a limited pyrolysis oxidation strategy was adopted to prepare Pd-Mn₃O₄ spinel catalysts with uniform morphology and active component dispersion. Among these, 1.08Pd-Mn₃O₄ presented the highest catalytic efficiency with a T₉₀ value of 240 °C, which was 94 °C lower than that of Mn₃O₄. Characterization and density functional theory (DFT) calculation results revealed that the strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) effect between Pd and Mn₃O₄ promoted the redistribution of surface charges, thus strengthening the oxidation-reduction ability of the active sites. Moreover, the SMSI effect led to a better migration of surface oxygen species, and boosted the generation of active surface oxygen species. Simultaneously, the Pd catalyst further reduced the energy barrier in the initial stage of the dehydrogenation of propane. Overall, this study provided a novel design strategy for dual active components catalysts with SMSI effect and extended the application of these catalysts in the important field of VOCs elimination.