Surface Modification of GdMn2O5 for Catalytic Oxidation of Benzene via a Mild A-Site Sacrificial Strategy

Thermal catalytic oxidation technology is an effective way to eliminate refractory volatile organic pollutants, such as Benzene. Nevertheless, a high reaction temperature is usually an obstacle to practical application. Here, GdMn2O5mullite (GMO-H) catalyst with disordered surface Gd-deficient and oxygen-vacancy-rich concentrations was synthesized via a controllable low-temperature acid-etching route. Results show that the preferentially broken Gd-O bond is conducive to exposing more Mn-Mn active sites, which Gd species covered. The affluent surface oxygen vacancies supply sufficient adsorption sites for oxygen molecules, facilitating the oxygen cycles during Benzene catalytic oxidation. Furthermore, surface exposed Mn3+species were oxidized to Mn4+, which is beneficial to increase catalytic activity at a lower temperature. Compared with the conventional GdMn2O5, the reaction temperature for removing 90% Benzene over GMO-H was dropped from 405 to 310 °C with WHSV of 30,000 mL g−1h−1. Significantly, during a 72 h catalytic test, the catalytic activity remains constant at 90% of the Benzene removal at 300 °C, indicating excellent activity stability. This work reported an efficient approach to preparing manganese-base mullite thermal catalyst, providing insight into the catalytic oxidation of Benzene.