Mesoporous thin films of high-surface-area crystalline cerium dioxide

Mesoporous thin films of cerium dioxide were prepared by using a copolymer surfactant (Pluronics 123) at ambient conditions in alcohol as a solvent. The material was produced via a direct calcination step, without the necessity of a gelling stage. The synthesised CeO2 matrix was crystalline with a high surface area. The solution height over the synthesis vessel before the calcination step was found to play an important role in the direct calcination synthesis of mesoporous ceria. The material was characterised by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, and determination of the specific surface area after the BET method. Small angle X-ray scattering was used to study differences in how the surfactant with ethanol as a solvent was ordered before and after addition of cerium chloride, prior to the calcination step.