Carbon nanotube-assisted synthesis and high catalytic activity of CeO2 hollow nanobeads

CeO2 hollow nanobeads have been synthesized facilely using carbon nanotubes as templates by means of a solvothermal treatment combined with controlled calcinations. The properties of CeO2 hollow nanobeads were characterized by TEM, EDS, XRD and XPS. The obtained CeO2 hollow nanobeads with polycrystalline face-centered cubic phase have a uniform morphology ranging from 150 to 200 nm in outer diameter and 40 to 60 nm in inner diameter. A possible formation mechanism has been suggested to explain the formation of CeO2 hollow nanobeads. It is found that CeO2 hollow nanobeads have an excellent catalytic performance for the CO oxidation.