Synthesis and characterization of (Ba,Yb) doped ceria nanopowders

Nanometric size (Ba, Yb) doped ceria powders with fluorite-type structure were obtained by applying selfpropagating room temperature methods. Tailored composition was: Ce0.95 xBa0.05YbxO2 δ with fixed amount of Ba 0.05 and varying Yb content “x” from 0.05 to 0.2. Powder properties such as crystallite and particle size and lattice parameters have been studied. R ntgen diffraction analyses (XRD) were used to characterize the samples at room temperature. Also, high temperature treatment (up to 1550°C) was used to follow stability of solid solutions. The mean diameters of the nanocrystals are determined from the full width at half maxima (FWHM) of the XRD peaks. It was found that average diameter of crystallites is less than 3 nm. WilliamsonHall plots were used to separate the effect of the size and strain in the nanocrystals.