Highly effective UV–Vis-IR and IR photothermocatalytic CO abatement on Zn doped OMS-2 nanorods

The catalysts of Zn doped OMS-2 nanorods with the Zn/Mn atomic ratios of 0.052, 0.056, and 0.073 were synthesized through the reaction among Zn(NO₃)₂, KMnO₄, and Mn(NO₃)₂ at 75 °C via changing the molar ratios of Zn(NO₃)₂/KMnO₄/Mn(NO₃)₂ in reactants. The Zn doped OMS-2 catalysts were characterized with ICP, XRD, TEM, BET, XPS, UV–Vis-IR, and CO-TPR. The catalysts demonstrate excellent photothermocatalytic activity for CO abatement with UV–Vis-IR irradiation. The Zn doping substantially promotes the photothermocatalytic activity of OMS-2. In comparison with TiO₂(P25), the CO₂ production rate of the optimum catalyst is raised by 64.5 times. The optimum catalyst demonstrates very good photothermocatalytic activity with Vis-IR irradiation and even with λ > 830 nm IR irradiation. The excellent photothermocatalytic activity of the Zn doped OMS-2 catalysts is mainly ascribed to their effective light-driven thermocatalytic properties. The substantial elevation in the photothermocatalytic activity of OMS-2 through the Zn doping is attributed to the thermocatalytic activity of the Zn doped OMS-2 catalysts being far superior to pure OMS-2 because the Zn doping promotes the reducibility of OMS-2. A new photoactivation substantially promotes the light-driven thermocatalytic activity of Zn doped OMS-2: UV–Vis-IR irradiation obviously improves the reducibility of Zn doped OMS-2, thus substantially promoting its catalytic activity.