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Updated: Jun 1, 2026

Quantitative Atomic-Site Analysis of Functional Dopants/Point Defects in Crystalline Materials by Electron-Channeling-Enhanced Microanalysis
Published on: May 10, 2021
Nanocrystals of CeVO4 doped by metallic heteroions
Yeqian Shen1, Yucheng Huang, Sujuan Zheng
1Key Laboratory of Mesoscopic Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.
Abstract:
CeVO(4) nanocrystals doped by heteroions were prepared via a hydrothermal method without the presence of surfactants or templates. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), solid state (51)V NMR, and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) were used to characterize the morphology, structure, and compositions of the materials. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results confirmed that there is a valence change from Ce(3+) to Ce(4+) for a fraction of cerium atoms whereas the vanadium atoms remain in the pentavalent state V(5+) upon the substitution of Ca(2+) into CeVO(4). Raman spectroscopy was used to monitor the effects of the doping ion on the CeVO(4) lattice contraction and distortion. The appearance of the shifted and broadened Raman peaks for the doped CeVO(4) was interpreted by theoretical calculations performed with Vienna ab initio simulation package. The redox properties and photocatalytic activities of the obtained nanocrystals were also investigated and discussed in detail.
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