ZrO2-CeO2 Sol-Gel Thin Films by XPS

ZrO2-CeO2 thin films were prepared by dip-coating on silica glass via sol-gel processing. Ethanolic sols of zirconium butoxide and cerium ?IV? dipivaloylmethanate were used as precursors. Zr0.8Ce0.2O2 films were prepared in air and resulted transparent, homogeneous, crack-free, and well adherent to the substrates. The composition of the films and their behavior toward crystallization were studied by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction as a function of the annealing temperature. At 600 °C only ZrO2 resulted crystallized with tetragonal structure, whereas mixed and nanostructured cerium zirconium oxide layers were obtained at 900 °C with a mean crystallite diameter of ? 10 nm.