Rare Earth Doping Effects on Properties of Ceria-Zirconia Solid Solution

Ce0.6Zr0.3RE0.1O2(RE = Y, La, Pr, Tb)solid solutions were prepared by co-precipitation technique and characterized by a series of methods. XRD and FT-Raman results show that Ce0.6Zr0.3RE0.1O2 has cubic fluorite structure. The different dopant ion radii bring different effect on the cell parameter of Ce0.6Zr0.3RE0.1O2. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results show that the binding energy of Ce3d, Zr3d and Ols for Ce0.6Zr0.3RE0.1O2 rises compared with that for Ce0.6Zr0.4O2, indicating that dopant elements change chemistry environment of solid solutions which is available to improve redox performance. Compared with Pd/Ce0.6Zr0.4O2, doping Y and La does not change air/fuel (A/F) characteristic of TWCs, but doping Pr and Tb widens A/F operating window and makes HC, CO and NO have higher conversion. The light-off temperature of Pd/Ce0.6Zr0.3La0.1O2 is corresponding to that of Pd/Ce0.6Zr0.4O2. However, the light-off temperatures of Pd/Ce0.6Zr0.3M0.1O2 (M = Y, Pr, Tb) are lower than that of Pd/Ce0.6Zr0.4O2, which keep much lower after high temperature treatments. Among Pd/Ce0.6Zr0.3RE0.1O2, Pd/Ce0.6Zr0.3 Tb0.1O2 represents wider A/F operating window, higher conversion, lower light-off temperature and better high-temperature resistance.