In this article, we present an overview on the thermocatalytic reaction of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) gas on a manganese (IV) oxide (MnO 2 ) catalytic structure. The principle of operation and manufacturing techniques are introduced for a calorimetric H 2 O 2 gas sensor based on porous MnO 2 . Results from surface analyses by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of the catalytic material provide indication of the H 2 O 2 dissociation reaction schemes. The correlation between theory and the experiments is documented in numerical models of the catalytic reaction. The aim of the numerical models is to provide further information on the reaction kinetics and performance enhancement of the porous MnO 2 catalyst.
Keywords: calorimetric gas sensor; catalytic decomposition; hydrogen peroxide; manganese (IV) oxide; numerical simulation.