Facile Synthesis under Near-Atmospheric Conditions and Physicochemical Properties of Hairy CeO2 Nanocrystallines

Treating freshly prepared cerous hydroxide with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) under ambient conditions provides a facile and efficient way for converting CeO2 nanoparticles (similar to 22 nm, 37 m(2)/g) into nanowires of fine diameters (down to similar to 5 nm) and outstanding specific surface areas (similar to 184 m(2)/g). The CeO2 nanornaterials were examined by XRD, BET, FT-IR, TG, HR-TEM, Raman scattering, and UV-vis absorption spectroscopy. The results show that the nanowires are single crystalline and of high purity and low defect (oxygen vacancy) concentration and are growing perpendicular to {220} planes. The CeO2 nanowires show indirect and direct band gaps of similar to 2.37 and 2.91 eV, respectively, which are both similar to 0.15 eV lower than those observed from the nanoparticle form (similar to 22 nm) for the respective interband transitions. The CeO2 nanowires were proposed to grow via a dissolution-reprecipitation mechanism, with an unstable Ce(OH)(3)O center dot OH hyperoxide intermediate as the template.