Effect of Gd dopant concentration on the defect engineering in ceria nanostructures

In this study, the fabrication and characterization of pure and gadolinium (Gd) doped ceria nanostructures (Ce1−xGdxO2−δ where x = 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2) are investigated. The origin of defect formation has been systematically investigated by XRD and UV-Visible Raman. All the fabricated ceria are found to be “Nanosponge” morphology which is observed by using FESEM technique. The charge transfer of O2− ions and Ce3+/Ce4+ in the ceria host due to these defect structures are studied by UV–DRS. Impedance analysis is showed an enhanced ionic conductivity for 5% Gd doped ceria compared to other concentration of Gd, revealing that the dopant concentration is a critical parameter in engineering a large number of vacancy defects in ceria nanostructures.

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► Investigates the ionic conductivity of defect engineered Gd doped nano scale ceria.
► Reveals that there exists an optimum concentration of dopant to engineer ceria with large O2 vacancies.
► For the first time the Nanosponge morphology observed in the Gd doped nanoceria.
► It is observed that 5% of Gd in ceria is optimum to induce appropriate amount of defects.
► Thereby an enhanced ionic conductivity is achieved in 5% Gd doped ceria.