PEG-Assisted Synthesis and Characterization of Ceria nanoparticles

Abstract

Ceria nanopowders were prepared by varying surfactant (2.5%, 5% and 10% PEG) and solution concentrations (0.25M, 0.5M and 1M).The preparation of nanopowders were carried out using inorganic salts of cerium ammonium nitrate. Cerium ammonium nitrate was used as precursor. Poly ethylene glycol was used as surfactant. The characterization of samples were done by X-ray diffraction studies, UV, IR and SEM images. XRD data showed that the both the as-prepared and calcined samples have cubic fluorite structure through out and the sharp peaks indicated the higher crystallite size (~ 12 nm). FT-IR results showed that the nanopowders heated at 500oC were almost free from surfactant. UV-Visible spectra showed that the ceria nanopowders prepared by varying PEG concentration exhibited a red shift in the absorption edge with increasing the surfactant concentration. From Cr-adsorption studies it was found that better results were obtained for the sample heated at 5000c around pH 6 (normal).