Study on the Catalytic Oxidation of Toluene Using CeO₂@S-AZMB Prepared from Spent Zn-Mn Batteries

The recycling and utilization of waste alkaline zinc manganese batteries (S-AZMB) has always been a focus of attention in the fields of environment and energy. However, current research mostly focuses on the recycling of purified materials, while neglecting the direct reuse of waste batteries. Here, we propose a new concept of preparing thermal catalysts by combining unpurified S-AZMB with CeO₂ by means of ball milling. A series of characterizations and experiments have confirmed that the combination with S-AZMB not only enhances the thermal catalytic activity of CeO₂ but also significantly enhances the concentration of surface oxygen vacancies. In the toluene removal experiment, the temperature (T90) at 90% toluene conversions of CeO₂@S-AZMB was 180 °C, lower than the 220 °C for CeO₂. More noteworthy is that this S-AZMB-based thermal catalyst can maintain a good structure and thermal catalytic stability in cyclic catalysis.