Anion-assisted one-pot synthesis of 1D magnetic alpha- and beta-MnO2 nanostructures for recyclable water treatment application

Different crystal forms of MnO2 exhibit not only diverse morphology and structure but also disparate performance. In view of this, we demonstrate a facile anion-assisted hydrothermal process to synthesize one-dimensional magnetic alpha- and beta-MnO2 nanostructures via altering the anions readily. The magnetic alpha- and beta-MnO2 nanostructures show excellent ability to remove organic pollutants compared to traditional adsorbents, which may be attributed to the crystal lattice oxygen and surface hydroxyl groups as well as the amount of surface Mn(III) and Mn(IV). Furthermore, the ease of recycle and the stability test proved that beta-MnO2 is stable in the degradation of methylene blue (MB), indicating its potential application in environmental pollution treatment.