Preparation of Nanosheet-like CeO ₂ Particles with Potential Applications in Ultraviolet Shielding, Catalysis and Polishing

CeO 2 plays a significant role in UV shielding, catalysis and polishing fields due to its excellent physicochemical properties. To investigate the performance of sheet-like CeO 2 particles, this study successfully synthesized uniform sheet-like CeO 2 particles via a hydrothermal method using cerium nitrate and oxalic acid as raw materials, with the ratio of the two precursors as the variable. The morphology and properties of the synthesized particles were characterized and tested. The results indicate that spherical CeO 2 particles were formed at a raw material ratio of 1:3.2, while sheet-like CeO 2 particles were successfully obtained at other ratios (1:2.2-3.0). In UV shielding tests, sheet-like CeO 2 with smaller particle diameters exhibited higher absorbance than spherical CeO 2 . In the field of catalysis, the two-dimensional appearance of nanosheet-like CeO 2 allows for the exposure of numerous coordinatively unsaturated Ce atoms on the surface. In polishing tests, except for CeO 2 -1:2.4, all other sheet-like CeO 2 powders showed higher material removal rates than spherical CeO 2 (165.9 nm/min), with the highest reaching 205.7 nm/min. The experimental results suggest that the synthesized sheet-like CeO 2 particles hold promising research potential in both UV shielding, catalysis and polishing applications.