Multicomponent metal oxides derived from Mn-BTC anchoring with metal acetylacetonate complexes as excellent catalysts for VOCs and CO oxidation

Abstract It is well-known that single-phase metal oxides can be prepared by using metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as sacrificial templates. In this contribution, we report a facile and scalable route for the preparation of multicomponent metal oxide nanomaterials (MMONs) with high dispersion and tailorable chemical compositions. Specifically, a series of MMONs have been prepared from the calcination of Mn-BTC nanorods together with various transition-metal acetylacetonate complexes (M(acac)2), wherein M(acac)2 was chemically anchored to the porous Mn-BTC with molecular-level dispersion during the one-pot synthesis. The large acac ligands benefit the uniform dispersion of the hetero-metals in the composites during the calcination in air. As a proof of concept application, we have demonstrated that the as-derived MMONs exhibited remarkable catalytic activities in the thermal oxidation of benzene and CO, respectively, which were superior to the traditional mixed metal oxides prepared from the coprecipitation method. The apparent activation energy was calculated and the surface chemical compositions of MMONs were characterized to assess the catalytic roles. In addition, in-situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) was also used to reveal the catalytic mechanisms and the synergistic effects of the obtained MMONs.