EXAFS study of nanocrystalline CeO2 samples prepared by sol–gel and ball-milling routes

Abstract This paper reports a study of nanocrystalline ceria prepared by both sol–gel and ball-milling methods. EXAFS measurements show that the ball-milled samples contain a considerable fraction of amorphous material, whereas there is a high degree of order in the sol–gel samples of similar grain size. In addition, a study has been made of the effect of silica and alumina as effective additives to reduce the grain growth of nanocrystalline ceria at elevated temperatures.