Ni-doped α-MnO2 catalyst for photothermal synergistic oxidation of propane: Investigation of catalytic activity and mechanism

In order to address the issue of air pollution caused by the volatilization of VOCs in oilfield mud storage tanks and further reduce the energy consumption associated with traditional thermal oxidation technology, this study employs a photothermal synergistic catalytic oxidation method for the treatment of oilfield VOCs. A series of Ni/α-MnO 2 catalysts doped with varying nickel contents were synthesized via the hydrothermal method using transition metals, with propane selected as the representative pollutant. The incorporation of nickel enhances the adsorption capacity of O 2 to a certain extent. Simultaneously, it increases the competitive adsorption intensity of O 2 in the presence of coexisting H 2 O and O 2 , thereby exhibiting superior catalytic oxidation performance for propane. Compared to the single-component α-MnO 2 material (T 90  = 228 °C), the 40 %Ni/α-MnO 2 composite catalytic material showed excellent degradation ability for propane (T 90  = 206 °C) and good long-term stability. Furthermore, based on density functional theory (DFT) calculations, a plausible mechanism for propane removal was proposed. Consequently, this study offers novel insights into the design and synthesis of efficient catalysts and the degradation of VOCs.