Facile synthesis and catalytic properties of single crystalline β-MnO2 nanorods

Single-crystalline β-MnO2 nanorods were successfully synthesized through facile reflux treatment of KMnO4 and MnSO4 in HNO3 solution. TEM and SEM images show that the synthesized β-MnO2 nanorods exhibited diameters of 20–50 nm, and lengths that ranged from approximately 0.5 to 2.0 μm with decreasing HNO3 concentrations from 0.8 to 0.1 mol/L. The β-MnO2 nanorods underwent three primary evolutionary stages over time. They exhibited excellent catalytic properties for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) by a Fenton-like reaction