Synthesis of micron-sized porous CeO2SiO2 composite particles for ultraviolet absorption

•Micron sized porous CeO2SiO2 composite particles were fabricated by an aerosol spray-drying process.•Porous composite particles were composed of meso- and macropores.•Porous composite particles showed high UV absorption ability.

Micron-sized porous composite particles composed of CeO2 and SiO2 nanoparticles were prepared for a UV absorption application by an aerosol spray-drying process from as-prepared CeO2 nanoparticles, commercial SiO2, and a polystyrene latex template. The morphology, structure crystallinity and pore size distribution of the as-prepared porous CeO2SiO2 composite particles were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Barrett-Joyner-Halenda (BJH) method, respectively. The porous CeO2SiO2 composite particles, with diameters of approximately 10 μm, showed a spherical morphology. As the contents of CeO2 in the precursor was increased from 0.25 wt% to 1.5 wt%, we observed a change in the morphology of the composite particles from compactly packed porous particles to loosely packed porous particles. The as-prepared CeO2SiO2 composite particles were composed of meso- and macropores in the range of 3-200 nm. The effect of the CeO2 content on the porous composite particles in terms of the UV absorption properties was also investigated by UV-visible spectroscopy. When the content of CeO2 exceeded 0.75 wt% in the precursor, the particles showed higher UV absorption values compared to those of commercial TiO2 nanoparticles. The as-prepared porous CeO2SiO2 composite particles can therefore be promising materials given their high UV absorption value.

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