LAUSR

Abstract Mesoporous copper manganese oxides were prepared via a simple method to be used for the catalytic oxidation of benzene emitted from industrial activities. Morphological characterization revealed that the primary particles of the as-synthesized catalysts were nanorods that aggregated with each other to form sea-urchin like structures. Compared with the manganese oxide based catalyst, copper manganese oxides exhibited better performances for benzene oxidation, achieving the best benzene conversion rate of 90% at around 219 °C, which is 23 °C lower than that for the catalyst without copper. The benefit of copper addition exists because the addition of copper in the manganese oxide causes desorption of lattice oxygen, increasing concentrations of oxygen defects on the catalyst surfaces. Furthermore, the addition of copper was found to contribute to the increase in the specific surface area by reducing the sizes of the nanorods and sea-urchin structures. Finally, the influential factors for catalytic oxidation were oxygen vacancies and the oxidation state of metals.