Large-scale synthesis of hierarchical MnO2 for benzene catalytic oxidation

•Hierarchical urchin-shaped MnO2 microspheres were obtained by a facile approach.•The MnO2 microspheres with high surface area could be obtained in large-scale.•The MnO2 microspheres exhibited good catalytic activity and stability.

Hierarchical sea-urchin-shaped manganese oxide microspheres were synthesized via a facile method based on the reaction between KMnO4 and MnSO4 in HNO3 solution at 50 °C. The average diameter of the microspheres is ∼850 nm. The microspheres consist of a core of diameter of ∼800 nm and nanorods of width ∼50 nm. The nanorods exist at the edge of the core. The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area of the sea-urchin-shaped microspheres is 259.4 m2/g. A possible formation mechanism of the hierarchical sea-urchin-shaped microspheres is proposed. The temperature for 90% conversion of benzene (T90%) on the hierarchical urchin-shaped MnO2 microspheres is about 218 °C.

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