Enhanced removal of toluene by pulse discharge plasma coupled with MgO cathode and graphene Mn-Ce bimetallic oxide.

Herein, MgO cathode and graphene Mn-Ce bimetallic oxide were utilized to jointly enhance the removal of toluene in pulsed discharge plasma (PDP). Compared to the common cathode, the MgO cathode enhanced the density of high energy electrons, and then induced to higher removal of toluene. However, the removal of toluene by PDP/MgO system was still insufficient, and there was a large amount of underutilized O3 in the products. Based on this, Mn-Ce/graphene catalysts were introduced into PDP/MgO system. The Mn-Ce (8:1)/graphene catalyst had the highest catalytic activity. Under the discharge power of 2.1 W, toluene degradation rate and CO2 selectivity increased by 27.5% and 22.0%, respectively. This was ascribed to the synergistic effect of the solid solution formed between MnOx and CeOx, increasing the proportion of Oads on the surface of the catalyst. The higher Oads/Olatt ratio lead to the better catalytic activity, which was conducive to the complete transformation of the intermediate products to CO2 and H2O. According to the detected products, the degradation pathway and the mechanism of toluene degradation were proposed finally. The PDP itself, field emission effect of MgO cathode and catalytic effect of Mn-Ce/graphene for jointly improve the toluene removal and CO2 selectivity.