Nanocrystalline Ceria through Homogeneous Precipitation in Alcohol-Water Mixed Solvent

Abstract

Uniform nanosized 3–6 nm cerium oxide single crystals have been synthesized by ammonia precipitation in alcohol-water mixed solvent. The size was estimated by photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). The surface area of CeO2 nanocrystals were measured by Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) technique. The nanoparticles synthesized were mono-dispersed with a narrow size distribution with low polydispersity index (PDI). The size of the ceria nanocrystals synthesized was found to decrease with decrease in the ϵ of the solvent. The crystals precipitated from isopropyl alcohol were highly crystalline. The smallest CeO2 crystals were obtained using ethylene glycol/water medium whereas lowest PDI was obtained from IPA/water system.