Sn-Ce-O advanced materials obtained by thermal decomposition of some precursors

The present work deals with the study of the thermal decomposition of tin and cerium precursors, in nonisothermal and isothermal conditions, in order to obtain Sn-Ce-O materials with different nominal Sn:Ce atomic ratio. The relation between precursor's ratio, thermal behaviour and phase composition of the end products has been investigated in order to establish the convenient thermal treatment for obtaining phases of interest. The methods used for the characterization of tin(II) oxalate and ammonium cerium(IV) nitrate, their mixtures and the end products have been simultaneous thermogravimetry and differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA), powder X-ray diffraction, IR spectroscopy and BET surface area measurements. Preferential formation of the cubic fluorite-type structure for samples with Sn:Ce atomic ratio 5 1 could be evidenced up to 600 deg C.