Role of Frustrated Lewis Pairs in α‑MnO₂ for Low-Temperature Toluene Oxidation with Ozone

To investigate this, we prepared three α-MnO₂ catalysts through precipitation (MnO₂–P), hydrothermal synthesis (MnO₂–H), and the crystal transformation approach (MnO₂–C).

The superior performance of MnO₂–C is attributed to its abundant oxygen vacancies and favorable Mn³⁺/Mn⁴⁺ ratio, whereas the efficiency of MnO₂–P and MnO₂–H is limited by their coordination-saturated Mn sites and insufficient oxygen vacancies, leading to poor O₃ activation. In contrast, the crystal transformation approach induces structural defects in MnO₂–C, creating abundant oxygen vacancy clusters and an optimized Mn³⁺/Mn⁴⁺ ratio.