Amorphous/crystalline Cu1.5Mn1.5O4 with rich oxygen vacancies for efficiently photothermocatalytic mineralization of toluene

Searching a photothermal catalyst for significantly boosting photothermocatalytic mineralization of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) still remains a challenge. Herein, an amorphous/crystalline Cu1.5Mn1.5O4 catalyst with rich oxygen vacancies was firstly fabricated for photothermal mineralization of toluene. Compared to crystalline Cu1.5Mn1.5O4 samples, amorphous/crystalline Cu1.5Mn1.5O4 catalyst exhibited a more superior photothermal catalytic activity (92.3% toluene conversion and 82.9% CO2 yield) and stability. The collective experimental studies confirmed that oxygen vacancies could contribute to photothermal conversion capacity and low temperature reducibility of amorphous/crystalline Cu1.5Mn1.5O4, enhanced the activation of reactive oxygen species and the deep oxidation of toluene under full-spectrum light. In the meantime, visible light played an auxiliary role in toluene oxidation. Moreover, the possible photothermal reaction mechanism of toluene was investigated by in situ infrared spectroscopy technique. This study can provide new ideas for application of amorphous/crystalline bimetallic oxides in photothermal mineralization of VOCs.