Porous microspheres of manganese-cerium mixed oxides by a polyvinylpyrrolidone assisted solvothermal method

Abstract Mixed cerium manganese oxides were synthesized using a polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) assisted solvothermal method. Materials obtained after calcination at 400 °C were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopies, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), Raman spectroscopy, thermal analysis and nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms. The influence of the synthesis parameters on the oxide structure, such as the Mn:Ce ratio or the amount of PVP, was discussed. Micrometric spheres of mixed Mn-Ce oxides, resulting from the aggregation of 100 nm porous snowflakes, were successfully synthesized. These snowflakes were formed from the aggregation of smaller oriented crystallites (size 4 nm). The hydrothermal stability of these materials was also investigated.