Abstract
Methanol has become recognized as a potential air pollutant in our living environment because many new uses of methanol are being proposed including automotive fuel and hydrogen source for fuel cell. Manganese dioxide (MnO2) is practically used for a major ingredient of air cleaning materials, because it reacts with harmful formaldehyde to give stoichiometrical carbon dioxide even at room temperature. When methanol can be oxidized to formaldehyde by MnO2, methanol can be also converted to carbon dioxide at room temperature. Then, this study aimed to investigate the heterogeneous reaction between gaseous methanol and MnO2 powder in a closed bag under ambient temperature. The results showed methanol concentration in air successfully decreased with time depending on the specific surface area of the MnO2 samples, and significant conversion to carbon dioxide was found with a formation of trace amount of formaldehyde in air and formate species on the surface of MnO2 as intermediates. This means MnO2 also shows high activity in the deep oxidation of methanol to carbon dioxide even at room temperature.
