Comparative study of various organic acids as disperser in praperation of aqueous colloidal cerium oxide (CeO2) nanoparticles

Cerium oxide or ceria is an inorganic compound of Cerium, a rare earth element of lanthanide series. Due to the unique ability of cerium to switch oxidation states between +3 and +4 it has various applications as ultraviolet light absorbers, catalytic converters for automobile exhaust systems, solar cells, optics, oxygen sensors and other commercial and biomedical applications [1]. CeO2 nanoparticles have been proven to be competent photocatalysts for environmental applications because of their strong redox ability, nontoxicity, long-term stability, and low cost. These nanoparticles exhibit good photocatalytic degradation and antibacterial activity [2]. In this work Synthesis of cerium oxide (CeO2) nanoparticles was studied by new and simple cloudy method. These aqueous dispersion nanoparticles were synthesized using cerium nitrate as a precursors and malic acid or acetic acid as relative stabilization and dispersant [3]. The preparation methods have been compared on the basis of their shape, size uniformity, sphericity, stability, etc. In both method XRD pattern showed the form TEM depicted spherical particles and porous network with a lot of voids. But the particle size was different for malic acid was 70nm and for acetic acid was 5nm.The sharp peaks in FTIR spectrum determined the existence of Ce-O stretching. Colloidal ceria in malic acid was more stable than in acetic acid media. A careful comparison of colloidal ceria and the preparation methods may help in choosing the proper colloidal ceria that is the most appropriate for the application being considered.