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Nanocrystalline cerium oxide (nanoceria) is a rare earth oxide with a complex surface chemistry. This material has seen substantial investigation in recent years in both fundamental and applied studies due largely to more precise characterization of the unique surface structures, which mediate its pronounced redox activity. In particular, oxygen storage/buffering capacities have been thoroughly correlated with synthesis and processing condition effects on other material features such as surface (micro-) faceting, reconstruction, and (extent of) hydration. Key material features such as these modulate nanoceria redox performance by changing the crystal microenvironment. In this review, we present nanoengineering methods, which have produced increased nanoceria performance in biomedical, energy, and catalysis applications. The impact of combined/cooperative theoretical and experimental studies are highlighted throughout.

Arsenic contamination has posed a health risk to millions of people around the world. In this study, we describe a simple and facile one-step hydrothermal synthesis of a ceria-graphene oxide (ceria-GO) composite for the efficient removal of arsenic species. The prepared ceria-GO composite materials exhibited almost complete (over 99.99%) and quick removal of both arsenic species within 0.1 mg L -1 of the initial concentration. The calculated adsorption capacities were 185 mg g -1 for As(iii) and 212 mg g -1 for As(v). It was found that Ce 3+ is an active site and continuously adsorbs arsenic species; there is a concomitant change from Ce 4+ to Ce 3+ due to the solution redox environment. This increase in the Ce 3+ concentration further facilitates the complete removal of arsenic species in solution. Thus our approach offers a promising potential for the treatment of arsenic-contaminated drinking water.

Single-crystalline ceria nanorods were fabricated using a hydrothermal process and annealed at 325 °C-800 °C. As-synthesized CeO2 nanorods contain a high concentration of defects, such as oxygen vacancies and high lattice strains. Annealing resulted in an improved lattice crystalline quality along with the evolution of novel cavity-shaped defects in the nanorods with polyhedral morphologies and bound by e.g. {111} and {100} (internal) surfaces, confirmed for both air (ex situ) and vacuum (in situ) heating. We postulate that the cavities evolve via agglomeration of vacancies within the as-synthesized nanorods.