Facile In-Situ Synthesis of Manganese Dioxide Nanosheets on Cellulose Fibers and their Application in Oxidative Decomposition of Formaldehyde

In situ synthesis of manganese dioxide was carried out under ambient conditions on porous cellulose fibers as support. MnO2/cellulose composites with different MnO2 loadings were obtained by tuning the concentration of aqueous KMnO4. Physical and chemical properties of the MnO2/cellulose composites were characterized by SEM, TEM, and XRD. When the concentration of aqueous KMnO4 falls in the range of 6.33–12.6 mM, the obtained MnO2 shows a nanosheet morphology and is uniformly coated on the cellulose fiber. The catalytic activities of MnO2/cellulose composites were investigated for the oxidative decomposition of HCHO. The nanostructured MnO2/cellulose composites show excellent catalytic performance for the oxidative decomposition of HCHO. Among them, 8.86 wt % MnO2/cellulose has the highest catalytic activity. The HCHO conversion per milligram of MnO2 of 8.86 wt % MnO2/cellulose is about 9–17 times as high as that of birnessite MnO2 powder prepared by a hydrothermal method. The catalytic activity was found...