Synthesis, characterization and applications of cubic fluorite cerium oxide nanoparticles: A comprehensive study

Abstract

Rare earth oxides are the most promising candidates for catalyst, environmental, biological, and medical uses. In this study, we report the synthesis, characterization, and applications of cerium oxide (CeO2) nanoparticles (NPs). CeO2 NPs were successfully synthesized by a simple and cost-effective chemical precipitation method. Several characterization techniques were employed to investigate the synthesized metal oxide nanoparticles. Structural properties of CeO2 NPs were analysed using powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy. The average crystallite size of NPs was calculated by using the Debye Scherrer formula. The atomic position and structural parameters of synthesized NPs were determined by rietveld refinement process of X-ray diffractogram. Energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX) was used to confirm the chemical and elemental composition of the synthesized CeO2 NPs. High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) was used to determine the average particle size of the CeO2 NPs. The polycrystalline nature of CeO2 NPs was confirmed by the ring pattern obtained in selected area electron diffraction (SAED). Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy was employed to identify defects in the sample. UV–Vis spectroscopy was used to study the optical properties and parameters of the CeO2 NPs, and the refractive index was calculated using various theoretical models. The photocatalytic activity of the synthesized CeO2 NPs was studied for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye at different catalyst doses under UV light irradiation. Additionally, the anticancer activity of the synthesized CeO2 NPs against human lung carcinoma cells was studied in detail.