Influence of the concentration of capping agent on synthesizing and analyses of Ceria nano-filler using modified co-precipitation technique

The pure crystalline cerium oxide (CeO2) nanoparticles were synthesized using optimized content of Ce(NO3)(3). 6H(2)O with varying concentrations of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) (0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2 M) as a precipitation agent in presence of 2.5 wt% poly(vinylpyrrolidone) PVP. All the samples are prepared via the modified coprecipitation technique. The synthesized materials have been analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), laser Raman, high-resolution scanning electron microscope (HR-SEM), and photo luminescence (PL) analyses. The optimized sample was identified with the help of the above studies that could be analyzed through transverse electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies. The cubic structure with the Fm-3 m space group has been confirmed through XRD (JCPDS: 81-0792) and Raman analyses. The FT-IR and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analyses ascertain the occurrence of Ce and O species. The as-prepared CeO2 filler (0, 3, 6, 9, and 12 wt%) is dispersed through the optimized polymer electrolyte Poly (styrene-co-methyl methacrylate) P(S-MMA) (27 wt%)-lithium perchloride (LiClO4) (8 wt%)-ethylene carbonate + propylene carbonate (EC + PC) (1;1 of 65 wt%) complex system using solution casting technique. P(S-MMA) (27 wt%)-LiClO4 (8 wt%)-EC + PC (1;1 of 65 wt%)-6 wt% of CeO2 shows the high ionic conductivity 8.13 x 10(-4) S cm(-1).

Automated summary

The study discusses the synthesis of pure crystalline cerium oxide nanoparticles using different concentrations of sodium hydroxide and polymer PVP, as well as the analysis of the synthesized materials. The addition of cerium oxide in the optimized material shows significantly improved ionic conductivity of the polymer electrolyte.