Synthesis of P-doped mesoporous manganese oxide materials with three-dimensional structures for catalytic oxidation of VOCs

•Mesoporous K-OMS-2 materials were prepared via hydrothermal route.•P was doped in the K-OMS-2 materials.•The morphology of the P-doped K-OMS-2 materials was three-dimensional structures.•The K-OMS-2 possessed good catalytic activity for catalytic oxidation of o-xylene.

P-doped cryptomelane-type manganese oxide K-OMS-2 materials with three-dimensional structures were easily prepared using KMnO4 and MnPO4 as precursors via hydrothermal route. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Energy dispersive X-ray spectra (EDS) results revealed that the morphology of P-doped K-OMS-2 transformed from hierarchical microspheres assembled from nanosheets and nanoneedles to nest-like structure with the increase of P/Mn molar ratio. Nitrogen sorption analysis showed that the isotherms of P-doped K-OMS-2 materials were typically type-IV with hysteresis loops, which meant that the samples had a mesoporous structure. The surface area and average pore diameter of the as-prepared K-OMS-2 materials were 138–153 m2 g−1 and 18–56 nm respectively. In addition, the obtained materials showed good catalytic ability for the catalytic oxidation of a typical volatile organic compound (VOCs), o-xylene.