Effect of calcination temperature on the oxidation of benzene with ozone at low temperature over mesoporous α-Mn2O3

Highly ordered mesoporous α-Mn2O3 was synthesized from cubic mesoporous silica (KIT-6) via nano-casting method. The mesoporous α-Mn2O3 thus obtained was calcined at 200–500 °C, and characterized using XRD, N2 sorption and temperature-programmed reduction (TPR). The calcination temperature did not significantly affect the BET surface areas, mesopore sizes, pore structures and crystallinities of the mesoporous α-Mn2O3 materials. The mesoporous α-Mn2O3 calcined at 300 °C showed the highest catalytic activity due to its high reduction ability revealed from the TPR analysis. However, the catalytic activity was negligible without ozone. In addition, the selectivity to CO2 was about 90% and this seems to be an advantage of mesoporous α-Mn2O3 for removing benzene using ozone.