Photoactivated Hydrocarbon Oxidation Coupled with Ozone Decomposition with MnO2 Catalyst
- 1Department of Engineering
- 2University of Cambridge
Abstract
Treatment of hydrocarbon emissions such as methane and formaldehyde require effective conversion alongside control of energy consumption and secondary pollutant formation. A continuous-flow methane and formaldehyde treatment system combining ultraviolet-C (UVC) irradiation, manganese dioxide (MnO2), and water addition was investigated in this study. Optical, thermal, and structural characterisation established the experimental platform, while irradiation on-off measurements, gas chromatography (GC), and infrared (IR) spectroscopy assessed reaction conversion, reactor response, and any residual ozone formation. Humid condition with MnO2 catalyst provides the highest methane conversion and the presence of the MnO2 suppressed ozone of the exit stream. Methane-free control experiments showed that oxygen concentration and MnO2 loading influenced the levels of ozone of the exit stream. Under humid conditions, 1.5 g of MnO2 achieved complete methane conversion across inlet concentrations of 200-10,000 ppm at an incident irradiance of 42 mW cm-2. Mixed feed experiments further demonstrated simultaneous conversion of methane, methanol, and formaldehyde with conversions at 100%, 87% and 86%, respectively under an incident irradiance of 85 mW cm-2. These results established the lab-scale potential of UV-MnO2 treatment for methane and volatile organic compounds.
Related
- Site-selective methylene C–H oxidation of an alkyl diamine enabled by supramolecular recognition using a bioinspired manganese catalyst
- Increasing the steric hindrance around the catalytic core of a self-assembled imine-based non-heme iron catalyst for C–H oxidation
- Challenges in Catalyst Design for the Ammonia Oxidation Reaction in Aqueous Media: The Case of Metal Porphyrins
- CO2 Driven Soot Oxidation via Reverse Boudouard Reaction over Reducible Catalyst: A Sustainable Pathway for Catalyst Regeneration
- Enhanced methane partial oxidation via plasma–catalyst coupling using ion-exchanged copper geopolymers deposited on the inner electrode
BibTeX
@misc{wu2026photoactivated,
title = {{Photoactivated Hydrocarbon Oxidation Coupled with Ozone Decomposition with MnO2 Catalyst}},
author = {Zhengyi Wu and Ning Wang and Tze Yeung Cho and Tzia Ming Onn},
howpublished = {ChemRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.26434/chemrxiv.15009454/v1},
url = {https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15009454/v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Photoactivated Hydrocarbon Oxidation Coupled with Ozone Decomposition with MnO2 Catalyst
AU - Zhengyi Wu
AU - Ning Wang
AU - Tze Yeung Cho
AU - Tzia Ming Onn
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/24
PB - ChemRxiv
DO - 10.26434/chemrxiv.15009454/v1
UR - https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15009454/v1
AB - Treatment of hydrocarbon emissions such as methane and formaldehyde require effective conversion alongside control of energy consumption and secondary pollutant formation. A continuous-flow methane and formaldehyde treatment system combining ultraviolet-C (UVC) irradiation, manganese dioxide (MnO2), and water addition was investigated in this study. Optical, thermal, and structural characterisation established the experimental platform, while irradiation on-off measurements, gas chromatography (GC), and infrared (IR) spectroscopy assessed reaction conversion, reactor response, and any residual ozone formation. Humid condition with MnO2 catalyst provides the highest methane conversion and the presence of the MnO2 suppressed ozone of the exit stream. Methane-free control experiments showed that oxygen concentration and MnO2 loading influenced the levels of ozone of the exit stream. Under humid conditions, 1.5 g of MnO2 achieved complete methane conversion across inlet concentrations of 200-10,000 ppm at an incident irradiance of 42 mW cm-2. Mixed feed experiments further demonstrated simultaneous conversion of methane, methanol, and formaldehyde with conversions at 100%, 87% and 86%, respectively under an incident irradiance of 85 mW cm-2. These results established the lab-scale potential of UV-MnO2 treatment for methane and volatile organic compounds.
ER -