Solvothermal synthesis of ceria nanoparticles with large surface areas

Ceria nanoparticles were obtained by the calcination of precursors synthesised via the solvothermal reaction of cerium acetate. The CeO2 samples obtained by the thermal decomposition of Ce(C7H15COO)3·xH2O synthesised by solvothermal reaction in 1,4-butanediol in the presence of octanoic acid had an extremely large surface area of 180 m2/g. The Ru catalyst supported on this CeO2 sample showed a high catalytic activity for benzyl alcohol oxidation.