Facile Preparation of Well-Dispersed CeO₂–ZnO Composite Hollow Microspheres with Enhanced Catalytic Activity for CO Oxidation

Abstract

In this article, well-dispersed CeO2-ZnO composite hollow microspheres have been fabricated through a simple chemical reaction followed by annealing treatment. Amorphous zinc-cerium citrate hollow microspheres were first synthesized by dispersing zinc citrate hollow microspheres into cerium nitrate solution and then aging at room temperature for 1 h. By calcining the as-produced zinc-cerium citrate hollow microspheres at 500 °C for 2 h, CeO2-ZnO composite hollow microspheres with homogeneous composition distribution could be harvested for the first time. The resulting CeO2-ZnO composite hollow microspheres exhibit enhanced activity for CO oxidation compared with CeO2 and ZnO, which is due to well-dispersed small CeO2 particles on the surface of ZnO hollow microspheres and strong interaction between CeO2 and ZnO. Moreover, when Au nanoparticles are deposited on the surface of the CeO2-ZnO composite hollow microspheres, the full CO conversion temperature of the as-produced 1.0 wt % Au-CeO2-ZnO composites reduces from 300 to 60 °C in comparison with CeO2-ZnO composites. The significantly improved catalytic activity may be ascribed to the strong synergistic interplay between Au nanoparticles and CeO2-ZnO composites.

Fabrication of CeO2–MOx (M = Cu, Co, Ni) composite yolk–shell nanospheres with enhanced catalytic properties for CO oxidation

“…Typically, uniform porous Ce 1− x Zn x O 2−δ solid-solution nanodisks were synthesized by thermal decomposition of the as-prepared Ce–Zn precursor and exhibited excellent activity for removing CO [17]. CeO 2 –ZnO composite hollow microspheres were fabricated via annealing of a precursor of amorphous zinc–cerium citrate hollow microspheres and presented excellent catalytic activity in CO oxidation [23]. Porous CeO 2 :Cu 2+ materials with a tunable surface area were prepared through the thermolysis of a nanosized CeCu(BTC)(H 2 O) 6 precursor [24].…”

Multiscale and luminescent, hollow microspheres for gas phase thermometry

“…38 . Furthermore, it is possible to control the wall thickness and pore sizes by varying the synthesis conditions.…”

Ultrasound and Conventional Synthesis of Ceo₂/Zno Nanocomposites and Their Application in the Photocatalytic Degradation of Rhodamine B Dye

“…Recently, researchers have paid much attention to CeO 2 /ZnO composite for potential applications [12][13][14][15][16][17]. CeO 2 -ZnO composite nanofibers were fabricated via the electrospinning technique and then studied for its photocatalytic behaviour [12].…”

“…CeO 2 -ZnO composite nanofibers were fabricated via the electrospinning technique and then studied for its photocatalytic behaviour [12]. Well-dispersed CeO 2 -ZnO composite fabricated through a simple chemical reaction followed by annealing treatment exhibited enhanced activity for CO oxidation [13]. S. Prabhu synthesized CeO 2 -ZnO-TiO 2 semiconductor composites by sol-gel method and photocatalytic activity of the synthesized composite for the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light irradiation was investigated [14].…”