CeO2

Cerium dioxide · Ceria, Cerium(IV) oxide

Cerium dioxide is a stable, semiconducting metal oxide widely recognized for its critical role in automotive catalysis and solid oxide fuel cell technology.

CeO
Crystal structure of CeO2 (cubic, Fm-3m (No. 225))
Ground-state structure · Materials Project
Overview

About Cerium dioxide

Cerium dioxide is a robust, thermodynamically stable oxide that serves as a cornerstone material in modern materials science. Its semiconducting electronic character and unique ability to facilitate oxygen storage make it an essential component in high-performance chemical processes.

Due to its exceptional structural versatility, this compound has been extensively characterized across numerous experimental and computational studies. It remains a primary focus for researchers developing advanced materials that require reliable performance under demanding environmental conditions.

At a glance

Key Properties

Cross-validated computational properties for Cerium dioxide, aggregated across 4 databases.

Band Gap

0.89–2.15 eV
Range across DFT structures

Energy Above Hull

0.000 eV/atom
Best (lowest) across sources

Stability

On hull (stable)
2 DFT sources

Structures

85
4 databases, 17 space groups
Validation

Cross-Source DFT Agreement

How well independent DFT databases agree on the thermodynamics of CeO2. Tight agreement means computed properties can be trusted without re-running calculations.

Agreement Score

1.00 / 1.00
Trust tier: medium

Hull Spread

0.000 eV
EAH spread across sources

Sources Compared

2
jarvis, materials_project

Space Group Consensus

All match
Crystallography

Reported Structures

Lowest-energy structures reported for CeO2, ranked by energy above hull.

Space GroupCrystal SystemBand Gap (eV)E above hull (eV/atom)E/atom (eV)Density (g/cm³)
Fm-3m (No. 225)cubic1.860.0000-9.2056.99
P42/mnm (No. 136)tetragonal2.150.1193-9.0855.96
P63/mmc (No. 194)hexagonal0.890.4294-8.7757.54
I4/mmm (No. 139)tetragonal0.000.7675-8.4377.65
C2 (No. 5)Monoclinic6.18
P42/mnm (No. 136)
P1 (No. 1)Triclinic5.55
P1 (No. 1)Triclinic8.73
C2/m (No. 12)Monoclinic3.70
Fm-3m (No. 225)Cubic7.29
Cm (No. 8)Monoclinic5.27
Pm (No. 6)Monoclinic5.87
Synthesis

Synthesis Routes

Literature-extracted synthesis procedures targeting CeO2.

Sol-Gel
Procedure available · ceder_solid_state
Sol-Gel
Procedure available · ceder_solid_state
Sol-Gel
Procedure available · ceder_solid_state
Sol-Gel
Procedure available · ceder_solid_state
Sol-Gel
Procedure available · ceder_solid_state
Sol-Gel
Procedure available · ceder_solid_state
Uses

Applications

Where Cerium dioxide is used.

Automotive three-way catalytic convertersSolid oxide fuel cellsChemical mechanical polishingOxygen sensorsUV-blocking additives
Reference

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Cerium dioxide, answered from cross-validated data.

What is CeO2?

Cerium dioxide is a stable, semiconducting metal oxide widely recognized for its critical role in automotive catalysis and solid oxide fuel cell technology.

More questions
What is CeO2 used for?
Cerium dioxide (CeO2) is used in automotive three-way catalytic converters, solid oxide fuel cells, chemical mechanical polishing, oxygen sensors, and uV-blocking additives.
What is the band gap of CeO2?
Cerium dioxide (CeO2) has a DFT-computed band gap of 0.89–2.15 eV across 85 reported structures.
Is CeO2 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
With a band gap up to 2.15 eV it is a semiconductor.
Is CeO2 thermodynamically stable?
Yes — Cerium dioxide (CeO2) sits on the convex hull (energy above hull 0 eV/atom), i.e. on hull (stable).
What is the crystal structure of CeO2?
The lowest-energy reported polymorph of Cerium dioxide (CeO2) is cubic symmetry, space group Fm-3m (No. 225).
What is the density of CeO2?
The computed density of the ground-state structure of Cerium dioxide (CeO2) is 6.99 g/cm³.
How many polymorphs of CeO2 are known?
85 structures of CeO2 are reported across 4 databases, spanning 17 distinct space groups.
How is CeO2 synthesized?
Literature-reported routes for CeO2 include sol-gel (10 procedures documented).
What elements does CeO2 contain?
Cerium dioxide (CeO2) contains Ce and O (2 elements).
Where does the data for CeO2 come from?
CeO2 data is cross-referenced from materials_project, mpaloe, jarvis.
Comparison

How It Compares

As a highly stable and well-documented oxide, cerium dioxide stands as a benchmark material within its class, frequently serving as the standard against which other functional oxides are evaluated for their catalytic and electrochemical potential.

Data sources & attribution
  • materials_project — Data from the Materials Project. Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013).
  • mpaloe — Data from mpaloe.
  • jarvis — Data from JARVIS (NIST). Cite: Choudhary et al., npj Comp. Mater. 6, 173 (2020).

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