Cerium Nitrate Hexahydrate

Cerium nitrate hexahydrate is a widely used source of cerium in materials science. It is a white-to-yellow crystalline salt that is hygroscopic and air-sensitive. It is highly soluble in water, alcohol, and acetone, although solutions can appear slightly hazy. Like many trivalent metal nitrates, cerium (III) nitrate hexahydrate melts at a low temperature (57 °C)and thermally decomposes at low temperatures too, beginning at 190 °C and proceeding rapidly at 280 °C with complete decomposition to cerium oxide at 390-400 °C.

Cerium (III) nitrate hexahydrate is widely used as a source of cerium, especially in the synthesis of micro- or nano-structured ceria (cerium oxide). Because of its high solubility and low decomposition temperature, cerium (III) nitrate hexahydrate is an ideal reagent for hydrothermal reactions, sol-gel processing, and co-precipitation and calcination reactions. It is also applicable in studies using cerium (III)nitrate hexahydrate to build a ceria support for single-atom catalysts, such as nickel-doped ceria for the hydrogenation of acetylene and platinum-doped ceria for carbon monoxide oxidation.