title: Multi-shelled ceria hollow spheres with a tunable shell number and thickness and their superior catalytic activity.
abstract: In this work, ceria multi-shelled nanospheres with a tunable shell number and thickness were prepared by a facile coordination polymer (CP) precursor method without the use of any template and surfactant. Interestingly, the number, thickness and structure of the shell can be tuned by varying the reaction time, reaction temperature, ratio of reagent and calcination temperature. The formation process of the multi-shelled hollow spheres was also investigated, which experienced a core contraction and shell separation process. Moreover, the multi-shelled CeO2hollow nanospheres displayed excellent photocatalytic activity in the degradation of RhB. Au and AuPd nanoparticle loaded multi-shelled CeO2nanocomposites were also prepared. Results show that Au/CeO2multi-shelled hollow nanospheres showed eximious catalytic activity for the reduction of p-nitrophenol with a reaction rate constant k of 0.416 min. In addition, AuPd/CeO2exhibited a remarkable catalytic activity for the conversion of CO. Employing this method, heavy rare earth oxide multi-shelled structures and light rare earth oxide solid spheres were obtained. This method may be employed for the preparation of other materials with complex structures.
authors.affiliation: College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China. slzhong@jxnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China. slzhong@jxnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China. slzhong@jxnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China. slzhong@jxnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yongxia
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China. slzhong@jxnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Danyang
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China. slzhong@jxnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Biqing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China. slzhong@jxnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yongxia
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.affiliation: College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China. slzhong@jxnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Shengliang
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6660-6465
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhong