Effect of surfactants on the synthesis of Al2O3–CeO2 nanocomposite using a reverse microemulsion method

Al2O3–CeO2 nanocomposite was synthesized by a reverse microemulsion method. Effects of surfactants (Sodium dodecyl sulfate, Cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide and Polyoxyethylene(23)lauryl ether) on size, morphology and surface area of alumina–ceria nanocomposite were investigated. The synthesized products were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis (DTA–TG), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area measurement (BET), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). XRD revealed that Al2O3–CeO2 nanoparticles with crystallite size in nanometer scale were formed. TEM images showed that the material was composed of nanoparticles with an average size of 20 nm. Properties of the synthesized nanocomposite can be tailored by changing the surfactant.