Post-plasma-catalytic degradation of toluene using atmosphere double dielectric barrier discharge combined MnO_x-based catalysts

Post-plasma catalytic system with Mn-based has shown potential performance in terms of air pollution degradation, in which Ce was induced into MnOx/Al₂O₃ mixed with 1:1 weight ratio by the impregnation method to increase the capacity of toluene degradation. The catalytic ability of prepared catalysts was analyzed by characterizations of XRD, SEM, XPS, and BET. The effects of the SIE and initial concentration on toluene and CO₂ production were discussed in this work. The results showed that the toluene removal efficiency and CO₂ selectivity increased with the promotion of SIE. With the addition of 15% Ce1Mn1/A₂O₃, the PPC system displayed the potential performance in the enhancement of toluene conversion and CO₂ generation, and suppression of ozone and NO₂ compared with plasma alone. At the SIE level of 504 J/L, the system showed better performance in terms of toluene removal efficiency (90.1%), CO₂ selectivity (67.3%), O₃ suppression (79.3%), and NO₂ prohibition (61.8%). Also, the organic by-products generated by the PPC system were discussed.