A series of MnO x -CeO 2 and MnO x -TiO 2 catalysts were prepared by a homogeneous precipitation method and their catalytic activities for the NO oxidation in the absence or presence of SO 2 were evaluated. Results show that the optimal molar ratio of Mn/Ce and Mn/Ti are 0.7 and 0.5, respectively. The MnO x -CeO 2 catalyst exhibits higher catalytic activity and better resistance to SO 2 poisoning than the MnO x -TiO 2 catalyst. On the basis of Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning transmission electron microscope with mapping (STEM-mapping) analyses, it is seen that the MnO x -CeO 2 catalyst possesses higher BET surface area and better dispersion of MnO x over the catalyst than MnO x -TiO 2 catalyst. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements reveal that MnO x -CeO 2 catalyst provides the abundance of Mn 3+ and more surface adsorbed oxygen, and SO 2 might be preferentially adsorbed to the surface of CeO 2 to form sulfate species, which provides a protection of MnO x active sites from being poisoned. In contrast, MnO x active sites over the MnO x -TiO 2 catalyst are easily and quickly sulfated, leading to rapid deactivation of the catalyst for NO oxidation. Furthermore, temperature programmed desorption with NO and O 2 (NO + O 2 -TPD) and in situ diffuse reflectance infrared transform spectroscopy (in situ DRIFTS) characterizations results show that the MnO x -CeO 2 catalyst displays much stronger ability to adsorb NO x than the MnO x -TiO 2 catalyst, especially after SO 2 poisoning.