Facile fabrication of nanosheet-assembled MnCoOx hollow flower-like microspheres as highly effective catalysts for the low-temperature selective catalytic reduction of NOx by NH3.

A series of MnCoOx flower-like hollow microspheres with various molecular proportions of reactant were prepared through simple solvothermal method for the ammonia selective catalytic reduction (SCR) at low temperatures. The as-prepared samples have been applied by various characterization techniques to explore the formation process of the morphology and physicochemical properties. The Mn(1)Co(1)Ox presented the optimal intrinsic catalytic performance (95% NOx conversion at 75 °C), favorable thermal stability, and strong SO2 resistance. The excellent properties mainly related to its higher specific surface area and abundant active sites originated from hollow microsphere special structure consists of abundant nanosheets, robust redox properties beneficial for the strong interaction between the manganese and cobalt, larger number of acidic sites and stronger acid strength, etc., which collaboratively dominate its catalytic properties of NH3-SCR at low temperatures.