Fabrication of CeO2 microspheres by sol−gel reaction with polymerization via single emulsion

Abstract

In this research work, the monodisperse CeO₂ microspheres were prepared by using the sol-gel processes via a single emulsion. The needle-tube capillary microfluidic device was integrated to generate water-in-oil (W/O) single emulsion droplets with a Ce-based sol as the inner phase. By polymerizing acrylamide monomers inside of the sol, the Ce-based precursor formed the spherical structure during the healing process. The size of the droplets was investigated by studying the effect of the viscosity, interfacial energy, and flow rate of both phases. The CeO₂ ceramic microspheres were fabricated following drying and sintering processes. Comprehensive characterizations of the sol-gel process and as-synthesized ceramic microspheres have been conducted. This paper describes detailed information about the sol-gel process and single emulsion to generate the ceramic microspheres.