Determining the maximum lanthanum incorporation in the fluorite structure of La-doped ceria nanocubes for enhanced redox ability

Ceria nanocubes have been doped with increasing amounts of lanthanum to enhance their redox ability. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy techniques provide a consistent picture indicating that there is an upper limit to the lanthanum that can be incorporated in the fluorite structure of ceria nanocubes, which is close to 7.5 mol% La. This limited loading is nevertheless able to produce a significant enhancement of the ceria redox ability as evidenced by use of X-ray absorption spectroscopy to determine the Ce(3+)/Ce(4+) ratio in samples submitted to a degassing treatment at room temperature.