Growth and UV Absorption of 5 mol% Zn-Doped CeO<sub>2</sub> Nanoparticle Synthesized with a Simple Precipitation Process

Abstract

Nanoparticles of the 5 mol% Zn-doped CeO2 have been synthesized by simple precipitation process from aqueous/alcoholic solution of cerium nitrate and zinc nitrate mixture at room temperature. Dried precipitates were calcined at 300-700°C for 2 hours. The structure and growth of 5 mol% Zn-doped CeO2 was investigated using X-ray diffraction measurement. All the peaks in X-ray diffraction patterns are identified and indexed as single crystalline phase of cubic fluorite CeO2. The enhancement in calcination temperature increases the crystallite size from 5.51 to 15,56 nm and improves crystallinity of that nanoparticle. The low activation energy for crystallite growth of the 5 mol% Zn-doped CeO2 is found to be 10.85 kJ/mol. The UV-Vis spectrophotometer measurement shows the UV absorption property of the 5 mol% Zn-doped CeO2 enhanced with the increasing calcination temperature. The 5 mol% Zn-doped CeO2 nanoparticle calcined at temperature 600°C is found to be more effective as UV-blocker.