Nanostructures and optical properties of hydrothermal synthesized CeOHCO3 and calcined CeO2 with PVP assistance

Submicronsized sphere- and disc-like cerium hydroxide carbonate structures were obtained by a hydrothermal method in the presence of polyvinyl pyrrolidone. Morphologies and sizes of the particles and their assembled structures are very sensitive to the concentration of polyvinyl pyrrolidone and the reaction time. As concentration of polyvinyl pyrrolidone increasing or hydrothermal reaction time elongating, the assembled structure experienced a morphology transition from sphere-like to disc-like and then to enlarged sphere-like again. The cerium hydroxide carbonate showed strong photoluminescence effect at room temperature. Ceria nanostructures can be obtained after a 500 °C calcining from cerium hydroxide carbonate precursors. The obtained products showed good ultraviolet absorption properties. Furthermore, the absorbance feature could be adjusted by changing the polyvinyl pyrrolidone concentration and reaction time during synthesis.