Performance of co-doped Mn-Ce catalysts supported on cordierite for low concentration chlorobenzene oxidation

[Display omitted] •Mn-Co-Ce/cordierite catalysts were prepared for low concentration chlorobenzene combustion.•Mn8Co1Ce1/cordierite catalyst showed the best catalytic performance.•The oxidation mechanism of chlorobenzene was proposed.•The synergistic catalytic effect was validated by various characterizations. The catalytic activity for low concentration chlorobenzene oxidation was measured with Mn-Ce/cordierite and Mn-Co-Ce/cordierite catalysts with different mole ratios, which were prepared by a sol-gel method and characterized using XRD, BET, SEM Raman, H2-TPR and XPS. The results demonstrated that part of the manganese and cobalt could be incorporated into the lattice of CeO2 to form a solid solution phase. Among all of the catalysts synthesized, Mn8Co1Ce1/cordierite presented the best activity and stability. When the concentration of chlorobenzene was 500ppm, and the GHSV was 15000h−1, the complete combustion temperature (T90%) of chlorobenzene was 325°C. In addition, there was almost no change in the conversion of chlorobenzene during the long-term reaction at 350°C. These results were primarily attributed to the synergistic effect of ceria, manganese and cobalt, which can promote the formation of more lattice defects, more oxygen vacancies and smaller crystallite sizes.