New advances toward microstructural improvement of epitaxial CeO2 films grown by chemical solution deposition and their use as buffer layers for YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) films are presented. We demonstrate that the degree of epitaxy and the fraction of (001) atomically flat surface area are controlled by the incorporation of tetravalent (Zr) or trivalent (Gd) cations into the ceria lattice. The degree ...

Catalytic oxidation of carbon monoxide (CO) is of great importance in many different fields of industry. Until now it still remains challenging to use non-noble metal based catalysts to oxidize CO at low temperature. Herein, we report a new class of nanoporous, uniform, and transition metal-doped cerium (IV) oxide (ceria, CeO2) microsphere for CO oxidation catalysis. The porous and uniform micr...

We report on the experimental performance of a solar aerosol reactor for carrying out the combined thermochemical reduction of CeO2 and reforming of CH4 using concentrated radiation as the source of process heat. The 2 kWth solar reactor prototype utilizes a cavity receiver enclosing a vertical Al2O3 tube which contains a downward gravity-driven particle flow of ceria particles, either co-curre...

Architectural constructs are engineered to impart desirable mechanical properties facilitating bridges spanning a thousand meters and buildings nearly 1 km in height. However, do the same 'engineering-rules' translate to the nanoscale, where the architectural features are less than 0.0001 mm in size? Here, we calculate the mechanical properties of a porous ceramic functional material, ceria, as...

Here we report a universal method of attachment/functionalization of tips for atomic force microscope (AFM) with nanoparticles. The particles of interest are glued to the AFM tip with epoxy. While the gluing of micron size particles with epoxy has been known, attachment of nanoparticles was a problem. The suggested method can be used for attachment of virtually any solid nanoparticles. Approxim...

Catalysis by gold supported on reducible oxides has been extensively studied, yet issues such as the nature of the catalytic site and the role of the reducible support remain fiercely debated topics. Here we present ab initio molecular dynamics simulations of an unprecedented dynamic single-atom catalytic mechanism for the oxidation of carbon monoxide by ceria-supported gold clusters. The repor...

Identification on catalytic sites of heterogeneous catalysts at atomic level is important to understand catalytic mechanism. Surface engineering on defects of metal oxides can construct new active sites and regulate catalytic activity and selectivity. Here we outline the strategy by controlling surface defects of nanoceria to create the solid frustrated Lewis pair (FLP) metal oxide for efficien...

Columnar thin films of undoped ceria were grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. The films, deposited on Pt-coated MgO(100) substrates, display a columnar microstructure with nanometer scale grain size and ~30% overall porosity. Through-plane (thickness mode) electrical conductivity was measured by AC impedance spectroscopy. Proton conduction is observed below 350-400 °C, with a magn...

This paper describes the synthesis of ceria catalysts with octahedron, nanorod, nanocube and spindle-like morphologies via a template-free hydrothermal method. The surface morphologies, crystal plane and physical-chemical structures were investigated via field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy...

Solid solutions of CeO2 with Yb2O3, Y2O3, Sm2O3, Gd2O3, La2O3, Nb2O5, Ta2O5, and Pr6O11 were prepared by sol-gel methods. All of the samples exhibited a single, cubic phase in x-ray diffraction and the lattice parameters were consistent with formation of the solid solutions. Surprisingly, all of the mixed oxides exhibited a much lower catalytic activity for n-butane oxidation than that of pure ...