Performance and mechanism analysis of degradation of toluene by DBD plasma-catalytic method with MnOx/Al2O3 catalyst

The reaction mechanism for using Mn-based catalysts to deal with toluene using the DBD plasma-catalytic method remains unclear. This work investigated the reaction mechanism and performance of toluene removal by DBD technology using MnOx/Al2O3 as a catalyst. It was found that MnOx/Al2O3 catalysts improved the degree of mineralization and further oxidized the intermediates to CO2, which inhibited the generation of NOx. The formation of active groups and the oxygen transfer process on the catalyst's surface were also analysed. Additionally, the reaction mechanism process included two main steps. On the one hand, active groups of •OH, •O, •N, NO and O3 were generated in a plasma state; on the other, the oxygen on the surface of the catalyst transformed to promote the further oxidation of the intermediate products, CO2 and H2O, eventually. This work lays a foundation for the industrial application of MnOx/Al2O3 for toluene removal.