Coal based activated carbon (AC) was pretreated by peracetic acid solution and used for supporting Mn catalyst towards oxidation of gaseous benzene by catalytic ozonation. The as-obtained activated carbon was characterized by XPS, BET, SEM, and TG technologies. It indicates that peracetic acid solution modification not only raised the quantity of chemisorbed oxygen or water, and hydroxyl group on activated carbon material surface, but also increased the specific surface area and benzene adsorption capacity of activated carbon. Benzene could be completely removed in 300 min and CO2 selectivity reached to 61.9% over Mn/AC-modified catalyst. A possible catalytic ozonation mechanism of activated carbon which was treated by peracetic acid solution supported Mn catalyst for oxidation of benzene was proposed. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.