Innovative synthesis of CeO2 nanoparticles for advanced chemical mechanical polishing

This study presents a novel chemical precipitation method for synthesizing cerium dioxide (CeO2) nanoparticles with superior chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) performance. Cerium nitrate and ammonia were used as the cerium source and precipitant, respectively, in a nitrogen atmosphere. The hypothesis that higher oxygen vacancy density and redox capability would enhance the material removal rate (MRR) was tested. The synthesized CeO2 nanoparticles exhibited improved crystallinity and oxygen exchange properties, as confirmed by XPS and H2-TPR analysis. The results showed that CeO2 synthesized at 0.7 M cerium nitrate after 24 hours outperformed commercial CeO2 with an MRR of 3095.53 & Aring;/min, attributed to the high concentration of Ce3+ ions and oxygen vacancies. This study provides new insights into the role of oxygen exchange and vacancy density in optimizing CeO2-based abrasives for CMP applications.