Morphology and formation mechanism of ceria nanoparticles by spray pyrolysis

Ceria-based materials are used in industrial applications such as catalyst supports, carbon monoxide reduction catalysts, and solid oxide fuel cell electrolytes. Various applications require different morphological particles. The ceria particles with various morphologies from the precursors of cerium(III) acetate hydrate, cerium(IV) nitrate hydrate, and cerium(IV) ammonium nitrate were prepared by spray pyrolysis (SP) because SP has the potential for simple and continuous process. The precursor behaviors and the particle morphologies were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis and by transmission electron microscopy. Four main morphologies of solid spherical, hollow spherical with a single pore, hollow concave, and hollow spherical with multiple pores were observed. The experimental results suggest that the morphological formation mechanism is highly correlated with the factors of precursor solubilities, solvent evaporation rates (droplet diameters), and precursor melting temperatures. In addition, total concentrations of cerium(III) in the ceria particles from various precursors were examined using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.