Combustion synthesis and characterization of nanocrystalline CeO2-based powders via ethylene glycol-nitrate process

Nanocrystalline ceria-based powders [CeO2, (YO1.5)(0.2)(CeO2)(1.8), (NdO1.5)(0.2)(CeO2)(1.8), (SMO1.5)(0.2)(CeO2)(1.8), (GdO1.5)(0.2)(CeO2)(1.8)] have been prepared using combustion synthesis with ethylene glycol as a novel fuel and nitrate as an oxider. An interpretation based on an adiabatic flame temperature, for different fuel-to-oxidant ratios, has been proposed for the nature of combustion and its correlation with the powder characteristics. The pure CeO2 powders synthesized by using different ethylene glycol - nitrate ratios have been characterized by X-ray diffractionmetry, transmission electron microscopy and infrared spectroscopy. The effects of calcination temperature and doping on the as-synthesized powders have been investigated by XRD. (C) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.