Please login first
Preliminary structural characterization of ceria–titania polymorphic mixtures achieved by high-energy ball milling
* 1 , 2 , 2
1  INTEQUI-CONICET, Universidad Nacional de San Luis (UNSL), San Luis, Argentina
2  Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnología Química (INTEQUI-CONICET), Universidad Nacional de San Luis (UNSL), Facultad de Química Bioquímica y Farmacia, Almirante Brown 1455, Capital, 5700 San Luis, Argentina
Academic Editor: Vladimir Fedin

Abstract:

High-energy ball milling is a simple and eco-friendly technique that has gained increasing popularity in recent years. This one-pot method of synthesis allows for the preparation of solid materials from a green perspective, avoiding multiple and complex steps, the use of solvents and the extreme pressure and temperature conditions commonly employed. Due to its multiple advantages, high-energy ball milling can make structural and surface modifications within the solid matrix according to the physicochemical properties needed, such as defect accumulation, polymorphic transformations, grain boundaries, amorphization, particle refinement and increases in specific surface area and ion mobility. In this regard, ceria–titania mixtures were obtained using several high-energy ball milling conditions (varying the metal oxide concentration, ball-to-powder ratio, time and rotational speed). The crystal structures created by the milling process were studied by means of X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRPD), including cerianite, anatase, rutile and high-pressure TiO2 (II) formation. Moreover, the crystallite sizes and the specific surface area (SBET) values were estimated using the Scherrer equation and N2 physisorption (BET method), respectively. According to this preliminary study, the materials generated through this sustainable, cost-effective and easy-to-scale technique could be useful as catalyst supports for different metal nanoparticles or could act as catalysts in a variety of applications, e.g., oxidation and photocatalytic reactions in both the liquid and gas phases.

Keywords: High-energy ball milling; polymorphic mixtures; titanium oxide; cerium oxide

 
 
Top