Synthesis of nanostructured ceria, zirconia and ceria-zirconia solid solutions using an ultrahigh surface area carbon material as a template

Nanostructured ceria, zirconia and ceria-zirconia solid solutions have been synthesized via an easy route and characterized by XRD, nitrogen physorption, Raman spectroscopy and TEM. The route involves two steps: the impregnation of ultrahigh surface area carbon materials with nitrate solutions of ceria and/or zirconia and burn-off to remove the carbon materials in a controlled oxidation atmosphere. The results show that the particle sizes of ceria, zirconia and ceria-zirconia solid solutions are about 5-10 nm. The results also show that zirconia is in the monoclinic phase and tetragonal phase and ceria is in a cubic phase with a fluorite structure.