Structural and electrical properties of nanostructured cerium phosphate

Cerium phosphate nanomaterials with different morphologies and sizes were synthesized via a hydrothermal process at 150 A degrees C using cetyl-trimethyl-ammonium-bromide and ethylene-diamine-tetra acid as surfactants. The obtained samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction and a scanning electron microscope. A possible growth mechanism was proposed to reveal the formation process. The structural properties and the electrical conductivities of CePO4 nanomaterials were studied. The activation energies were obtained from Arrhenius plots where E (a) = 1.06 eV. The ac conductivity at different temperatures for CePO4 nanomaterials showed frequency independence in the lower frequency range. The dielectric measurements were carried out as a function of frequency and temperature. Variation of the dielectric properties and the ac conductivity with frequency revealed that the dispersion is due to a Maxwell-Wagner type of interfacial polarization in general.