Template-free hydrothermal synthesis and CO oxidation properties of flower-like CeO2 nanostructures

•The sample was prepared through the hydrothermal process in the absence of any template.•Potassium chlorate (KClO3), a strong oxidant, was successfully used in the synthesis of CeO2 nanostructures.•A possible mechanism for the formation of flower-like CeO2 was preliminarily proposed.•The flower-like CeO2 nanostructures show a high catalytic activity in the CO conversion to CO2.

KClO3, a strong oxidant, was employed in the template-free hydrothermal synthesis of flower-like CeO2. The structure and physicochemical properties of the samples were characterized via the XRD, N2 adsorption, FE-SEM, TEM, HRTEM, H2-TPR techniques. Through a series of experiments, the formation of flower-like CeO2 is strongly dependent on reaction time. Meanwhile, the transformation of two phases (Ce(HCOO)3 and CeO2) and a possible mechanism for the formation of flower-like CeO2 were preliminarily proposed. The result shows that the H2 consumption for surface reduction of the flower-like CeO2 sample is significantly higher than the commercial CeO2 sample and the BET surface area of the flower-like ceria nanoparticles is 38.8 m2/g, which are benificial to the catalytic reaction. Compared with the commercial CeO2, the as-prepared flower-like CeO2 possesses the better catalytic performance for CO conversion.

Graphical abstractThe intermediate morphology (a) and the final (b) morphology of the as-prepared sample prepared through hydrothermal synthesis at 180 °C.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide