Effects of cerium precursors on surface properties of mesoporous CeMnOx catalysts for toluene combustion

Abstract Mesoporous CeMnO x composite oxides catalysts were prepared by surfactant-assisted co-precipitation method and used for the catalytic oxidation of toluene. The effect of different cerium precursors [Ce(NO 3 ) 3 and (NH 4 ) 2 Ce(NO 3 ) 6 ] on catalyst structure, surface properties and toluene combustion activities of mesoporous CeMnO x catalysts were investigated. The Ce(III)MnO x catalyst prepared from Ce(NO 3 ) 3 precursor shows higher catalytic activity, with a 90% conversion temperature of 240 °C, which is better than the Ce(IV)MnO x catalyst derived from (NH 4 ) 2 Ce(NO 3 ) 6 ] precursor. On the basis of characterizations, it reveals that abundant surface content of Mn 4+ , better redox behavior and larger concentration of surface active oxygen species are responsible for the excellent catalytic performance.