High temperature H,S sorption activities of cerium-manganese mixed oxide sorbents containing different molar ratios of Ce/Mn and pure CeO2, prepared by the complexation technique, were investigated in a fixed bed flow reactor. Sulfur retention capacity and the H2S sorption rate of CeO2 were significantly enhanced by the incorporation of Mn into the sorbent. Cerium-manganese mixed oxide having a Ce/Mn ratio of 1/3 showed very high sorption rate. Another advantageous feature of this sorbent was its excellent regeneration properties. No deactivation of this sorbent was observed after 10 successive sulfidation-regeneration cycles. Also about 90% of the retained sulfur was converted to elemental sulfur instead of SO2, during regeneration step. The H2S Sorption rate constant observed at 600 degrees C with the Cel-Mn3 mixed oxide sorbent was also found to be much higher than the corresponding values for Zn-Mn, V-Mn and Fe-Mn mixed oxide sorbents prepared in this study. (C) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.