Regulating composition of Mn-CeOx nanoparticles with ultra-small sizes on Al2O3 for enhanced catalytic ozonation

Herein, Al 2 O 3 supported ultra-small Mn-CeOx nanoparticles (Mn-CeOx/Al 2 O 3 ) are prepared by a facile impregnation method for removal of phenolic compounds via catalytic ozonation . Mn and Ce species are in the form of polyvalent oxide nanoparticles with an average size of 0.9 nm. The removal efficiency of total organic carbon for phenol-containing model wastewater by Mn-CeOx/Al 2 O 3 shows a volcano relationship by changing the mass ratio of Mn and Ce, and reaches up to the peak value when the mass ratio is 5:5. The cycle stability tests suggest the removal efficiency of Mn-CeOx/Al 2 O 3 could maintain at 90.16 % after 5 circles. The enhanced performance should be attributed to the optimized magnetism and accelerated charge transfer by composition regulation. The magnetic strength changing affects the adsorption mode of O 3 , while the redox cycle of Mn(IV)/Mn(III) and Ce(IV)/Ce(III) could enhance the activation of O 3 to produce more ·OH and 1 O 2 for the organic molecules mineralization.