Synthesis of flower-like La or Pr-doped mesoporous ceria microspheres and their catalytic activities for methane combustion

La or Pr-doped flower-like mesoporous ceria microspheres were prepared by a unique calcination of La or Pr-doped Ce(OH)CO3 microspheres hydrothermally synthesized with the aid of glucose and acrylic acid. Prepared flower-like ceria-based materials have a novel hierarchical architecture with mesoporous structure and high surface area, which can obviously facilitate the catalytic combustion of methane, compared with general La or Pr-doped ceria. The presence of La or Pr can promote the production of oxygen vacancies and improve oxygen mobility, which result in enhancing the oxygen-storage capacity of the flower-like ceria and its catalytic performance for the methane combustion.