This work presents a potential boron-modified cryptomelane (B/OMS-2) material in phtocatalysis of polystyrene (PS) degradation. B/OMS-2 was prepared by using a reflux method and characteristics of crystalline cryptomelane and morphologies of nanorods were observed by conducting evidences of X-Ray diffraction patterns and scanning electron microscope images. Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry was also utilized to determine elemental composition of B/OMS-2 sample. The average oxidation state of manganese of the synthesized B/OMS-2 was 3.88 providing a high oxidation ability of the synthesized B/OMS-2. A hand-made polystyrene sheet (2.54 cm x7.62 cm) with 1 wt.% of B/OMS-2 (denoted by PS-B/OMS sample) and a sheet excluding B/OMS-2, namely PS sample were prepared for testing of polystyrene degradation under UV light. After the first 2 days with UV irradiation, the weight loss were 12.700  0.525 mg/cm2and 5.667  0.400 mg/cm2 for PS-B/OMS and PS samples, respectively. The wetting angle over PS-B/OMS surface noticeably decreased from 87.5  1.9  (for initial time) to 35.3  5.0  (after the two days of UV testing) while that over PS sheet slightly declined from 84.9  4.0  to 78.6  3.3 . By comparison with the PS sheet, the surface of PS-B/OMS became dull and less shiny after long term exposure to UV light suggesting a positive role of B/OMS-2 material in accelerating the polystyrene degradation under UV light

This work presents a potential boron-modified cryptomelane (B/OMS-2) material in phtocatalysis of polystyrene (PS) degradation. B/OMS-2 was prepared by using a reflux method and characteristics of crystalline cryptomelane and morphologies of nanorods were observed by conducting evidences of X-Ray diffraction patterns and scanning electron microscope images. Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry was also utilized to determine elemental composition of B/OMS-2 sample. The average oxidation state of manganese of the synthesized B/OMS-2 was 3.88 providing a high oxidation ability of the synthesized B/OMS-2. A hand-made polystyrene sheet (2.54 cm x7.62 cm) with 1 wt.% of B/OMS-2 (denoted by PS-B/OMS sample) and a sheet excluding B/OMS-2, namely PS sample were prepared for testing of polystyrene degradation under UV light. After the first 2 days with UV irradiation, the weight loss were 12.700  0.525 mg/cm2and 5.667  0.400 mg/cm2 for PS-B/OMS and PS samples, respectively. The wetting angle over PS-B/OMS surface noticeably decreased from 87.5  1.9  (for initial time) to 35.3  5.0  (after the two days of UV testing) while that over PS sheet slightly declined from 84.9  4.0  to 78.6  3.3 . By comparison with the PS sheet, the surface of PS-B/OMS became dull and less shiny after long term exposure to UV light suggesting a positive role of B/OMS-2 material in accelerating the polystyrene degradation under UV light