Highly improved soot combustion performance over synergetic MnxCe1−xO2 solid solutions within mesoporous nanosheets

[Display omitted] •MnxCe1−xO2 solid solutions facilely synthesized by hydrothermal route.•MnxCe1−xO2 solid solutions within mesoporous nanosheets.•Enhanced NOx storage and oxidation capacities by Ce synergy with Mn.•Highly improved soot combustion performance via synergetic effect. Constructing synergetic bimetal oxide solid solutions with exceptional catalytic performances for efficient soot elimination is becoming a research frontier in environmental catalysis. Herein, synergetic MnxCe1−xO2 solid solutions within mesoporous nanosheets, synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method for the first time, have been performed to catalyze the NOx-assisted soot combustion. Research results validate that MnxCe1−xO2 solid solutions displayed highly improved soot combustion performance with respect to activity and selectivity, mainly due to the synergetic effect by combining factors of the unique mesoporous nanosheet-shaped feature, the enhanced chemical nature stemmed from high-valence Mn species, abundant active oxygen species originated from the enriched oxygen vacancies and the escalated redox properties. Furthermore, the enhanced NOx storage and oxidation abilities, mainly derived from integrating reciprocal merits of high-valence Mn species and CeO2, were also responsible for the highly improved soot combustion performance via NOx-assisted mechanism. Moreover, MnxCe1-xO2 solid solutions also exhibited excellent reusability due to the unique morphological structure and stable crystal phase, showing good potential in practical applications.