Preparation of High-Surface Area Nano-CeO2 by Template-Assisted Precipitation Method

The high-surface area nano-CeO2 was prepared by Ce(NO3)3 by precipitation method, with surfactant cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as templating agent. The effects of the precipitating agents, reaction temperature, ageing time, and calcination temperature on the surface area, as well as the pore structure and the mean crystallite size of nano-CeO2 were studied. It was found that the reaction of Ce(NO3)3 with NaOH in the presence of CTAB at 90 °C for 12 h yieldsed a cerium oxide/surfactant mixture, which after calcination at 400 °C resulted in high-surface area nano-CeO2. The mean crystallite size of CeO2 was approximately 6 nm, surface area was in excess of 200 m2·g−1, pore size was approximately 9 nm, and the pore distribution was concentrative. Moreover, the surface area can still reach 147 m2·g−1 after calcination at 700 °C, which showed the good thermal stability of the CeO2. The number of oxygen vacancies in the structure of CeO2 corresponded with the surface area of CeO2, and the high surface area was propitious to the formation of oxygen vacancies.