Small-angle neutron scattering investigations on sintering behavior in the powder compacts of ceria (CeO2)

Nano-crystalline ceria powders have been synthesized by gel combustion process. The effect of sintering temperature on the pore morphology of the powder compacts has been investigated by small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) in the accessible scattering wave vector ‘q’ range of 0.003–0.17 nm−1 of a double crystal based instrument. The scattering profiles do not follow normal ‘q−4’ power law at higher q-values. The X-ray diffraction and light scattering results indicate that the ceria nano-powders are in the form of porous agglomerates. The porosity of the sintered compacts has been attributed to inter-agglomerate, inter-aggregate and intra-aggregate pores. Scattering profiles have been modeled by using a tri-modal size distribution of pores.