CuMnOx spinel catalyst, prepared by the sol-gel method, and characterized by modern techniques such as XRD, BET, H2-TPR, EPR, were used to oxide toluene in the temperature range from 150oC to 400oC . Among,  the investigated catalysts as MnO2, CuO, and CuMnOx, the CuMnOx showed the highest catalytic activity. It converted 100% toluene to CO2 at 250oC in excessed oxygen conditions. The higher catalytic performance of CuMnOx than MnO2, CuO because of its higher specific surface area and its lower reduction temperature. The results also implied that the interaction between Cu and Mn could improve the reduction capacity of CuMnOx catalyst. In summary, the CuMnOx catalyst is a promising catalyst for toluene treatment.

Cordierite is the substrate that posseses a low thermal expansion coefficient, good thermal shock resistance, excellent mechanical properties, and chemical resistance. Thus, cordierite is widely used as substrate for catalysts in high-temperature applications like gaseous treatment. CuMnOx/cordierite catalyst for the complete oxidation of toluene was prepared by the impregnation method and characterized by XRD, BET, IR techniques. This work evaluated the catalytic activity of the prepared catalyst at the temperature range from 150oC to 350oC. It was found that CuMnOx/cordierite catalyst completely converted toluene to CO2 at 350oC. In addition, the mechanism of the toluene oxidation process using CuMnOx/cordierite catalyst was also determined via the indentification of the presentation of the by-products by GC/MS technique at various reaction temperature of 200oC, 250oC, and 350oC. The results showed that the reaction  over the CuMnOx/cordierite catalyst followed the same mechanism as proposed by Lars and Andersson.  The intermediate products of the oxidation process at 200oC, 250oC, and 350oC were benzyl alcohol, benzaldehyde, benzoic acid, benzene, phenol, 1.4-hydroquinone, 1,4- benzoquinone, and maleic anhydride.