Composite ceria nanofiber with different copper loading using electrospinning method

Abstract

Nanofibers of CeO2 and CuO/CeO2 were prepared using electrospinning method. Known volumes of aqueous solutions of copper acetate monohydrate and cerium nitrate hexahydrate were mixed with a fixed volume of aqueous polyvinyl pyrrolidone and electrospinning was carried out at 12 kV DC by maintaining the tip to collector distance as 10 cm. The green nanofibers thus obtained were calcined at 500 °C for 3 h. The morphology of the synthesized nanofibers (both green and calcined) was determined by SEM analysis and their elemental composition was verified using XPS and EDX spectroscopy. Green ceria nanofibers had an average diameter of about 130 nm, and the average diameter of the green nanofibers containing 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 mol. % Cu in ceria were found to be approximately of 124, 117, 114, 108 and 98 nm, respectively. The crystal structure of nanofibers was determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) which showed the peaks of CeO2 appearing at 2θ of 28.83° and those for CuO at 47.45°. The average crystallite size of CeO2 and CuO/CeO2 were calculated by Debye-Scherer formula and found to be 14 nm for CeO2 and 9–12 nm for CuO/CeO2composites of different copper loadings.