Research on Toluene Removal with Non-Thermal Plasma Catalysis Technology

The removal of toluene in simulated waste gas was investigated by a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor combined with a MnO2 catalyst at room temperature and atmosphere pressure. Effects of MnO2 catalyst on toluene removal efficiency, carbon dioxide selectivity, byproducts (O-3, NO, NO2) amounts and energy yield were compared. The MnO2 catalyst was characterized by the methods of XPS and FT-IR after reaction. It was found that the addition of MnO2 catalyst could take full advantage of O-2 and O-3 which was produced in the plasma reaction. At the same time, it could promote the oxidation of toluene to carbon dioxide, and reduce byproducts formation. The result of XPS showed that on the surface of the catalyst some carbonaceous species containing oxygen and nitrogen groups were formed after reaction. The spectrum of FT-IR verified the existence of these species.