Background: Developing environmentally benign and non-vanadium SCR catalysts remains a challenging task for NOx abatement. In this article, Fe-Ce catalysts including Fe-Ce(S) and Fe(S)-Ce catalysts with different molar ratios of Fe/Ce were synthesized by different precursors of active species expecting to gain high catalytic activity for the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NOx with NH 3 in a wide temperature range.Results: The Fe-Ce(S) catalyst exhibited better catalytic activity than the Fe(S)-Ce catalyst. The characterization results indicated the Fe-Ce(S)catalyst possessed better dispersion of active species, which would favor the contact of active sites and reactant molecules and thus enhance the catalytic performance. Moreover, higher ratios of Fe 3+ and Ce 3+ and more surface chemisorbed oxygen were observed over the Fe-Ce(S) catalyst. In addition, the Fe-Ce(S) catalyst held better low-temperature redox properties and more weak acid sites.Conclusions: The precursor effect was closely related to the catalytic activity of catalysts. All of the mentioned above might be the main reasons for the superior catalytic performance of the Fe-Ce(S) catalyst, especially at low temperatures. These findings indicate that Fe-Ce(S) catalyst is a promising catalyst for the SCR reaction to replace V-W-Ti catalysts and can provide guidance for the development of environmentally benign and non-vanadium SCR catalysts.