An Ionic Liquid-assisted Hydrothermal Synthesis of CeO$lt;inf$gt;2$lt;/inf$gt; Nanorods

Abstract

CeO 2 nanorods were synthesized by a hydrothermal method at 160℃ from CeCl 6 •6H 2 O and NH 3 •H 2 O in the presence of an ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methyl-imidazolium chloride ([Bmim]Cl). The phase and morphology of the resulting products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), respectively. The results reveal that morphology of CeO 2 prepared in the presence of the ionic liquid is nanorod while it changes to irregular nanoparticle without ionic liquid. The resulting nanorods are about 13-25 nm in diameter and 200-500 nm in length. With the increase of ionic concentration, nanorods were disappeared gradually and nanoparticles were obtained. Moreover, increasing the hydrothermal temperature to 180℃, nanospheres at size of 19-24 nm could be synthesized by aggregation of ~2 nm nanocrystals.