Synthesis and Characterization of Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles and Its Applicability as Fuel Catalyst

Abstract

Ceria is an important rare earth material due to its versatile properties, and it has several applications in the field of engineering and science. In this work, the cerium oxide (CeO2) nanoparticles were prepared using co-precipitation method. The cerium nitrate (Ce(NO3)3) was used as chemical precursor for the synthesis of CeO2 nanoparticles. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), fluorescence intensity, UV absorption, and transmission characterization studies are used to investigate optical properties of nanoparticles. The size of the nanoparticle was confirmed as ~200 nm. The cerium oxide nanoparticles have wide range of applications, among that one important application is a performance and emission effect of fuel using as catalyst. From the literature survey, the researchers suggested that CeO2 nanoparticle plays a key role to enhance the performance of an internal combustion (IC) engine by reducing the pollution. Further, CeO2 nanoparticles added to calophyllum inophyllum methyl ester with concentration of 10 and 25 ppm which enhanced the performance of an IC engine through marginal reduction in emissions.