Nano-crystalline Pr3+-ceria powder by urea–formaldehyde gel combustion route

• Nano-crystalline CeO2 synthesized by gel combustion route.
• Urea formaldehyde as fuel used first time for Pr- doping.
• Particles are spherical, porous & nanostructured.
• Blue shift in UV absorption spectrum with dopant concentration.

Nanosized ceria powder has been successfully prepared through gel combustion route, using urea–formaldehyde as fuel for praseodymium doping. DSC–TGA was carried out to analyse the proceeding of combustion reaction whereas XRD, FESEM, TEM and UV–Vis spectroscopic studies were carried out to evaluate the properties of the synthesized materials. This method is able to insert Pr3+ in ceria structure, as evidenced by the increasing trend of lattice parameter with dopant concentration. The materials produced were nanostructured, polycrystalline with many grains constituting nanospheres. Presence of grains with different morphology is evidenced through TEM observation. Band gap study shows an obvious blue shift in absorption pattern with dopant concentration.

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