title: Hierarchical assembly of inorganic nanostructure building blocks to octahedral superstructures-a true template-free self-assembly.
abstract: A room temperature, template-free, wet chemical synthesis of ceria nanoparticles and their long term ageing characteristics are reported. High resolution transmission electron microscopy and UV-visible spectroscopy techniques are used to observe the variation in size, structure and oxidation state, respectively as a function of time. The morphology variation and the hierarchical assembly (octahedral superstructure) of nanostructures are imputed to the inherent structural aspects of cerium oxide. It is hypothesized that the 3-5 nm individual building blocks will undergo an intra-agglomerate re-orientation to attain the low energy configuration. This communication also emphasizes the need for long term ageing studies of nanomaterials in various solvents for multiple functionalities.
authors: Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Center, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL-32816, USA. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 3335 Q Avenue, Richland, WA-99352, USA.
authors: Satyanarayana V N T
authors: SV
authors: Kuchibhatla
authors: Ajay S
authors: AS
authors: Karakoti
authors: Sudipta
authors: S
authors: Seal