Improvement of catalytic water oxidation on MnOx films by heat treatment.

Manganese oxides (MnOx ) are considered to be promising catalysts for water oxidation. Electrodeposited MnOx films from aqueous electrolytes have previously been shown to exhibit a lower catalytic action than films deposited from ionic liquids when tested in strongly alkaline conditions. In this study, we describe a thermal treatment that converts the MnOx films deposited from aqueous electrolytes to highly catalytic films with comparable activity to ionic-liquid-deposited films. The films deposited from aqueous electrolytes show a remarkable improvement in the catalysis of water oxidation after heat treatment at a low temperature (≤120 °C) for 30 min. The films were characterised by using XRD and SEM, and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), FTIR and Raman spectroscopy, which indicate that dehydration occurs during the heat treatment without significant change to the microstructure or bulk composition. The X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) results show the growth of small amounts (ca. 3-10 %) of reduced Mn species (Mn(II) or Mn(III) ) after heat treatment. The dehydration process removes structural water and hydroxyl species to result in a conductivity improvement and a more active catalyst, thereby contributing to the enhancement in water oxidation performance.