Controlled Synthesis of CeO2 Flower-Like and Well-Aligned Nanorod Hierarchical Architectures by a Phosphate-Assisted Hydrothermal Route

Large-scale CeO2 hierarchical architectures composed of well-aligned nanorods were controllably prepared through a simple Na3PO4 assisted hydrothermal reaction without any templates. The products were characterized with X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. It was found that the CeO2 architectures are in flower-like and vertically aligned nanorod morphologies and composed of numerous fluorite cubic single-crystalline nanorods of 20-40 nm in diameter and lengths of up to several micrometers. The possible mechanism for the nanostructures formation was discussed.