Mesoporous nanoscale ceria: synthesis from cerium (III) acetylacetonate and mechanism

Ceria nanopowders with crystallite size of about 10 nm have been prepared by the sol–gel method form cerium (III) nitrate or acetylacetonate. Dimethyloctylamine was used as low molecular weight stabilizer and hydrolyzing agent and acetylacetone as a chelating ligand to prevent a rapid hydrolysis of cerium ions. Ceria obtained had a mesoporous structure. It is shown that the presence of acetylacetonate ligands in solution promotes the obtaining of mesoporous ceria with a narrow pore size distribution (2–4 nm). The method of matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry was used to establish the composition of intermediate complexes in solution, sol, and xerogel of ceria. Mixed ligand complexes of cerium β-diketonates were found; key intermediates Ce–O linear structural fragments have been also found in all spectra.