Ethanol-thermal synthesis of colloidal-CeFeMn mixed-oxide as efficient catalytic material for atmospheric ozone decomposition

Catalytic decomposition of ozone (O3) shows great potential in eliminating harmful pollutant. However, developing efficient catalysts for atmospheric O3 remediation remains challenging. To address this problem, we have designed an active dispersion liquid (colloidal-CeFeMn mixed-oxide) for atmospheric O3 decomposition. The results show that the amorphous CeFeMn mixed-oxide activated at 150 °C has a larger specific surface area and more surface active sites (oxygen vacancies) than those samples activated at 160 °C and 170 °C. It also exhibits superior O3 decomposition activity at room temperature. Furthermore, ethanol-thermal activation of a CeFeMn-citric acid complex yielded CeFeMn mixed-oxide with small size and high element disorder, resulting in abundant redox pairs and catalytic active sites for O3 decomposition. With the coverage of the aformentioned colloidal-CeFeMn mixed-oxide, the inert surface of ordinary objects could be easily converted into active surfaces, reducing surrounding O3 concentration by 20–30 μg·m−3. This study provides valuable insight into catalyst design and would help to promote the practical application of catalytic decomposition for eliminating atmospheric O3.