Thermophoresis-assisted vapour phase synthesis of CeO2 and CexY1-xO2- nanoparticles

Thermophoresis-assited chemical vapour deposition (CVD) was used to produce nano-sized particles of ceria and yttria-doped ceria. The solid precursors cerium trichloride and yttrium trichloride were used with oxygen. After homogeneous nucleation, condensation and coagulation, thermophoresis-assited particle collection was achieved in two different ways. Particle dimensions were studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD)-line broadening. Crystallite and particle dimensions varied from 9 to 30 nm and from 30 to 80 nm, respectively. The influence of process conditions is discussed.