Catalytic oxidation of toluene in air using manganese incorporated catalyst by non-thermal plasma system

Abstract

Mn/MCM-41 and imp-Mn/MCM-41 catalysts were prepared in this study through metal heteroatom substitution and impregnation methods, respectively, and their catalytic oxidation performance of toluene under non-thermal plasma (NTP) in a dielectric barrier discharge reactor was studied. The stability of the catalyst and the parameters of catalytic oxidation conditions (initial concentration of toluene, O2 ratio, and relative humidity of carrier gas) were optimized. Characterization proved that the impregnation method resulted in the existence of manganese in the form of oxides (MnO2, Mn2O3) outside the pores of MCM-41. Meanwhile, the metal heteroatom substitution method implanted manganese into the mesoporous structure and replaced part of it with Si-O-Mn. NTP catalytic oxidation of toluene, ozone emission, and GC–MS by-product analysis confirmed that 60Mn/MCM-41 catalyst has high catalytic activity. Moreover, the catalyst affected the production of by-products. The stability test revealed that the 60Mn/MCM-41 catalyst still respectively reached 84.6% and 61% in the conversion of toluene and the selectivity of CO2 under the SED of 558 J/L after 40 h discharge reaction.