Catalytic Oxidation of Formaldehyde Over Mesoporous MnOx-CeO2 Catalysts
Formaldehyde is regarded as the major indoor air pollutant. Because of harmful effect on human health, its emission abatement is of significant practical interest. We report here excellent low-temperature catalytic performances of mesoporous MnO x - CeO 2 catalysts in the process of formaldehyde oxidation. These MnO x - CeO 2 catalysts were synthesized by a "nanocasting" method using SBA-15 as hard template. TEM images showed that the as-fabricated MnO x - CeO 2 composites possess well-ordered mesoporous architectures. Results of catalytic tests revealed that mesoporous MnO x - CeO 2 nanocomposites have excellent low-temperature catalytic activity for formaldehyde oxidation, the temperature for 100% formaldehyde conversion can be as low as 65°C over these noble-metal-free mesoporous catalysts. The excellent catalytic performance is attributed to their ordered mesoporous structures that expose abundant active sites to formaldehyde molecules.