Designing the morphology of ceria particles by precursor complexes

Ceria-based materials are widely used as catalysts, catalyst supports and electrolytes in many industrial applications. The morphological requirements of ceria particles vary depending on their applications. Here we show that complex morphologies of ceria particles can be achieved by using precursor complexes in the spray pyrolysis (SP) method. Three precursor complexes have been investigated: the complex of cerium acetate hydrate (CeA) and cerium nitrate hydrate (CeN); CeA and cerium ammonium nitrate (CeAN); and CeN and CeAN. Our results suggest that the morphological formation mechanism is highly correlated with the factors of precursor solubilities, solvent evaporation rates and precursor melting temperatures.