Cassava-starch-assisted sol–gel synthesis of CeO 2 nanoparticles

Abstract Cerium oxide (CeO 2 ) nanoparticles were successfully synthesized using native cassava starch as a size-limiting chelating agent. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy analysis revealed that all synthesized samples exhibited a cubic CeO 2 structure. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and XRD observations showed that increasing the calcination temperature increased the average crystallite particle sizes from 8.1 to 12.7 nm. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman results also revealed that reduction in the valence of Ce 4+ to Ce 3+ caused an increase in the molar fraction of oxygen vacancies, resulting in the presence of structural defects in the CeO 2 lattice. The cassava-starch-assisted sol–gel method proved to be highly efficient for the synthesis of highly crystalline CeO 2 nanoparticles with potential for industrial applications.