A systematic study in synthesis of CeO₂ films on Ni tapes from different precursors using sol-gel process

A systematic study was comparatively performed in the synthesis of CeO₂ films on Ni tapes from different precursors using sol-gel process. With this concept, CeO₂ thin and thick films were deposited on Ni tapes by a reel-to-reel sol-gel dip-coating process using alkoxide- and nitrate-based precursors. The films were heat-treated at different temperatures for different times under 4%H₂-Ar atmosphere. The structural and microstructural properties of these films were determined through XRD and ESEM. The structural and microstructural properties of these films depend on the preparation conditions. The films were found to be in the amorphous state until 300 °C or 400 °C. Upon raising heat-treatment temperature to nearly 500 °C, CeO₂ polycrystalline films with a cubic structure were grown on Ni tape. It was determined that different anions and their concentrations strongly influenced the structure and microstructure of the films. Ce(NO₃)₃.6H₂O and colloidal CeO2-based precursors showed better properties than the other ones as free cracks on the surface. It was determined that the annealing conditions for the texture structure were temperature (1150 °C), time (10 min), and specific media (4%H₂-Ar flow). Depending on these conditions, the most pronounced texture was acquired in a thickness range of 100 and 300 nm in CeO₂ films.