Non-thermal plasma with different O-2 concentration in discharge atmosphere was applied to synthesize manganese and cerium mixed-oxides catalysts, which were compared in NO oxidation activity. Discharge atmosphere displayed a crucial influence on the performance of the catalysts prepared by plasma. Relatively low O-2 concentration in discharge atmosphere allows synthesizing manganese-cerium oxides catalysts in a moderate environment and therefore is favorable for better physicochemical properties which lead to superior catalytic behavior. The best catalyst was obtained by treatment with 10% O-2/N-2 plasma and presented over 80% NO conversion in the temperature range of 275-325 degrees C, whereas catalyst prepared in pure O-2 discharge atmosphere had the same activity with a catalyst prepared by calcinations. A correlation between the surface properties of the plasma prepared catalysts and its catalytic activity in NO oxidation is proposed. The amount of the surface adsorbed oxygen has an obvious linear correlation with the amount of Ce3+, the H-2 consumption at low temperatures and the catalytic performance. The superior catalytic performance is mainly attributed to the stronger interaction between manganese oxides and ceria, and the formation of poorly crystallized Mn-O-Ce phase in the catalyst which resulted from the slow decomposition of nitrates and organics during plasma treatment. Catalysts prepared in relatively low O-2 concentration have large specific surface area and is abundant in Ce3+ species and active oxygen species. The study suggests that plasma treatment with proper discharge gas components is a promising method to prepare effective manganese-cerium oxides catalyst for NO oxidation. (C) 2017 Published by Elsevier B. V.