Water oxidation by lambda-MnO2: catalysis by the cubical Mn4O4 subcluster obtained by delithiation of spinel LiMn2O4.

Nanocrystalline spinel LiMn(2)O(4) has been prepared and treatment of LiMn(2)O(4) with dilute nitric acid solution resulted in the delithiation of the framework, while maintaining the spinel structure, lambda-MnO(2). LiMn(2)O(4) is not a catalyst for water oxidation. Upon removal of the lithium, the cubical Mn(4)O(4) cores become active sites for oxidizing water to molecular oxygen, which was investigated with the photochemical [Ru(2+)(2,2'-bpy)(3)]/persulfate system at pH 5.8. The nanosize lambda-MnO(2) obtained from the nanocrystalline LiMn(2)O(4), which was synthesized by the citrate route, shows a significantly higher water oxidation catalytic activity (Turnover Frequency: 3 x 10(-5) mol O(2)/s/mol Mn) than that obtained via solid state reaction with micrometer and irregular particle sizes (Turnover Frequency: 5 x 10(-6) mol O(2)/s/mol Mn).