CeO2/NiO Nanostructures Created Using Eggshell Membrane Towards Enhanced Catalytic Activity

In this paper, CeO2 and CeO2/NiO nanostructures with different morphologies were prepared using eggshell membrane template. The morphology of eggshell was not retained in the nanostructures. With increasing calcination temperature, CeO2 nanosheets were gradually transformed into nano necklaces with the highest crystallinity. The CO catalytic oxidation test indicated that CeO2 nanosheets calcined at 600 °C represented the best catalytic performance. In addition, CeO2/NiO nanocomposite was prepared at 1100 °C with the same method. It is found that the amount of NiO played an important role on the morphology of the composite. The NiO nanoparticles enhanced the catalytic activity of CeO2 necklaces effectively. The CeO2/NiO nanocomposite with 10% NiO represented the highest catalytic activity for CO oxidation. In contrast, the CO catalytic oxidation performance of the nanocomposite prepared at 600 °C was just slightly improved. Thus, NiO enhanced the catalytic performance of CeO2 nanostructure obviously at high temperature. This was due to the formation of the junction of CeO2 and NiO, which resulted in the more effective synergistic effect.