Determination of Structural Elements of Hydrothermally Synthesized CeO₂ Nanoparticles by Monshi, Williamson–Hall, Halder–Wagner, and Size–Strain Plot Methods, and Effect of Annealing Temperature

Abstract

CeO₂ nanoparticles are synthesized hydrothermally using CTAB as a surfactant, cerium nitrate hexahydrate (Ce(NO₃)₃·6H₂O) as a precursor and urea. The synthesized CeO₂ nanoparticles are characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction peak profile analysis (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and UV–vis. The X-ray diffraction results revealed that the sample is crystalline with a face centered cubic (fcc) phase having cubic fluorite structure. The structural elements of prepared samples have been investigated by various methods. The Monshi, W–H analysis, size–strain plot, and H–W methods are used to study crystallite sizes and lattice strain on the peak broadening of CeO₂ nanoparticles. Further, the lattice constant of the cubic fluorite has also been estimated from the Nelson–Riley plot. The parameters, including strain, stress, and energy density value, are calculated for all the reflection peaks of X-ray diffraction corresponding to cubic fluorite phase of CeO₂ lying in the range 20°–80° and at different temperatures.