Effect of Thermal Treatment on the Textural Properties of CeO2 Powders Synthesized in Near- and Supercritical Alcohols

CeO2 nanocrystals (NCs) have attracted increasing interest over the past few years, in particular for their use in catalytic reactions. Syntheses mediated by near- and supercritical alcohols have proven to be innovative ways to obtain CeO2 NCs with controlled crystallite sizes (from 3 to 8 nm depending on the alcohol) and surface functionalities, with alcohol moieties. When submitted to a thermal treatment at 500 degrees C, required to desorb/degrade surface organic species, these powders displayed different behaviors depending on the alcohol used during the synthesis. Cerium oxide powders synthesized in sc-MeOH, sc-EtOH and sc-iPrOH undergo sintering during treatment at 500 degrees C, with a decrease of their specific surface area. Conversely, those synthesized in sc-BuOH, nc-PentOH and nc-HexOH keep their initial crystallite sizes and morphology, but show a great enhancement of their specific surface area (up to 200 m(2)g(-1)), which is unprecedented after such a thermal treatment.