Morphological Phase Diagram of Biocatalytically Active Ceria Nanostructures as a Function of Processing Variables and Their Properties.

Invited for this month's cover is the group of Dr. Sudipta Seal from University of Central Florida, USA and a collaborator from the University of Kent, UK. The cover picture shows a morphological phase diagram of CeO indicating regions of nanoparticle nanorods and nanocube formation after certain time periods of hydrothermal treatment.

Morphological Phase Diagram of Biocatalytically Active Ceria Nanostructures as a Function of Processing Variables and Their Properties.

We rationalize how fluorite-structured CeO , which is crystallographically isotropic, can grow anisotropically (without templates) to form nanoparticles, rods, and cubes. In particular, single-crystalline and monodispersed cubic CeO nanoparticles, nanorods, and nanocubes have been selectively synthesized by a very simple, efficient, and economical hydrothermal process using different NaOH concentrations, and Ce(NO ) as the cerium precursor. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy reveals nanomaterials with differently exposed crystal planes: {111} and {100} for nanoparticles, {110} and {100} for nanorods, and {100} for nanocubes.

Hydrophobic high surface area zeolites derived from fly ash for oil spill remediation.

Fly ash, a coal combustion byproduct with a predominantly aluminosilicate composition, is modified to develop an inexpensive sorbent for oil spill remediation. The as-produced fly ash is a hydrophilic material with poor sorption capacity. A simple two-step chemical modification process is designed to improve the oil sorption capacity.