Abstract

CeO2 samples prepared by three technological procedures from the same cerium source, namely cerium (III) nitrate hexahydrate, are studied from the viewpoint of structure, chemical and phase composition, and micro- and macro-magnetic properties. The scanning and transmission electron microscopies completed by energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis yield nano-structural natures and homogenous chemical compositions of the ceria samples, confirmed also by X-ray diffraction. The diamagnetic, paramagnetic, and ferromagnetic phases in all samples follow from an analysis of the room- and low-temperature measurements of hysteresis loops. Iron impurities in ppm amounts are clearly detected by 57Fe Mössbauer spectrometry not only in the ceria samples but also in the selected input chemicals used for their preparation. This contributes to the explanation of the magnetic behaviour of nanosized ceria.

Highlights

  • Cerium, the chemical element with atomic number 58, is a silver-white metal and the second element in the lanthanide series

  • Inaccuracy in light element quantification). Both integral and point chemical analyses in all three samples were done from several places, and the mean values summarised in Table 1 do not yield any systematic difference

  • The study is devoted to a clarification of the magnetic behaviour of ceria in its nano- up to micro-sized forms

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Summary

Introduction

The chemical element with atomic number 58, is a silver-white metal and the second element in the lanthanide series. It shows +3 and +4 oxidation states. The fluorite structure consists of a face-centred cubic (f.c.c.) unit cell of cations, with anions occupying the tetrahedral interstitial sites. This can be seen as a superposition of a f.c.c. lattice of cations (Ce4+ ) with lattice constant a and a simple cubic lattice of anions (O2− ) with lattice constant a/2.

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