Effect of fuel and solvent on soot oxidation activity of ceria nanoparticles synthesized by solution combustion method

Abstract

Effect of fuel (glycine and urea) and solvent (water, acetone and ethanol) on the soot oxidation activity of ceria nanoparticles synthesized by solution combustion method is carried out in the present study. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns displayed a fluorite structure and the Tauc’s plot obtained from UV-Diffusive Reflectance spectroscopy (UV-DRS) showed that the band gap value was around 2.9–3.1 eV for the synthesized ceria nanoparticles irrespective of the fuel and solvent used. Ceria nanoparticles synthesized using glycine and acetone resulted in lower crystallite size, higher facet ratios ([1 0 0]/[1 1 1] and [1 1 0]/[1 1 1]) and higher lattice strain than compared to other solvents and fuels and thus resulted in better soot oxidation activity (T50 = 416 °C). The present synthesis method has played a significant role in improving the reactive facet ratios, providing lower crystallite size and high lattice strain.