Preparation and characterization of monodisperse cerium oxide nanoparticles in hydrocarbon solvents

Uniform-sized monodisperse cerium oxide nanoparticles were prepared in a one-step reaction. A cerium-oleate complex was heated in an organic solvent with high boiling point to decompose and form nanocrystals. The products were characterized by Raman spectroscopy, XRD, UV-visible spectroscopy, room-temperature photoluminescence spectroscopy, and TEM. The TEM images and UV-visible spectra show that the CeO(2) particles prepared are uniform nanosized and absorb UV light in the range of 250-400 nm. The size of the nanoparticles prepared can be controlled from 5 to 20 nm by choice of solvent, reaction time, and reactant concentration without any size sorting. The nanoparticles show a strong violet/blue emission at 400 nm in photoluminescence spectrum (PL). The PL emission was found to be sensitive to the particle size.