Baqer, Anwar Ali, Matori, Khamirul Amin, Al-Hada, Naif Mohammed, Shaari, Abdul Halim, Saion, Elias, and Chyi, Josephine Liew Ying
A sample thermal treatment technique was utilised to synthesis cerium dioxide (CeO2) nanoparticles, using cerium (111) nitrate as a precursor, Polyvinylpyrrolidone as a capping agent, and deionized water as a solvent. The product underwent calcination treatment of 500, 550, 600, and 650 1C to crystallize the nanoparticles and to remove organic compounds. It was verified by XRD that by varying the calcination temperature, the cubic fluorite structure of CeO2 nanoparticles with pure products was achieved. Furthermore, the crystal sizes of the CeO2 nanoparticles were assessed to be 4 nm for the lowest calcination temperature and 23 nm for the highest calcination temperature. The FESEM micrographs of the CeO2 nanoparticles revealed a structure of CeO2 nanospherical that exhibited a tendency to amalgamate at higher calcination temperatures. The optical characteristics that were evaluated with the help of a UV-Vis spectrophotometer indicated a decrease in the band gap energy with an increase in calcination temperature as a result of the increase in the crystal sizes.