Even though manganese oxides are attractive materials for batteries, super-capacitors and electro-catalysts for oxygen reduction reactions, in most practical applications MnO2 needs to be hybridized with conductive carbon nano-structures to overcome its inherent poor electrical conductivity. In this manuscript we report microwave-assisted synthesis of MnO2 embedded carbon nanotubes (MnO2@CNT) from Mn-H3BTC (benzene-1,3,5-carboxylic acid) metal organic frameworks (MOF) precursors. Using graphene oxide as microwave susceptible surface, MnO2 nano-particles embedded in three dimensional reduced graphene oxide (rGO) -CNT frameworks (MnO2@CNT-rGO) were synthesized which when applied as electro-catalysts in oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) demonstrated comparable half-wave potential to commercial Pt/C, better stability, and excellent immunity to methanol crossover effect in alkaline media. When carbon fiber (CF) was used as substrate, three-dimensional MnO2@CNT-CF were obtained whose utility as effective adsorbents for arsenic removal from contaminated waters is demonstrated.
Keywords: Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR); arsenic removal; carbon nanotubes; manganese oxide; metal organic frameworks; microwave synthesis.