CeO2 (cerium dioxide or ceria) is a versatile
material
for industrial catalysis because of its reversible Ce4+/Ce3+ redox pair and tunable oxygen vacancies. Purification
of air pollutants released from vehicles and stationary chemical industries
is one of the imperative catalytic applications of CeO2. In this regard, significant efforts have been made to improve the
properties of CeO2 by precisely controlling its’
particle shape. This fascinating shape-controlled strategy can stabilize
the surface-enriched crystal facets with excellent redox properties,
abundant surface oxygen vacancies, enhanced active-site accessibility,
and high catalytic activities. The synergistic effect of doping and
deposition of transition metals in improving the structure–activity
properties of shape-controlled ceria is also unraveled for air pollution
control. Thus, this review aims to summarize and elucidate the advances
in the field of catalytic air pollution control using shape-controlled
ceria-based nanomaterials. The adverse effects of four types of air
pollutants, namely carbon monoxide, soot particulates, nitrogen oxides,
and volatile organic compounds, while emphasizing the drawbacks and
challenges associated with the current technologies were briefly provided.
The role of various doped metals (Zr, Ti, Mn, Co, Fe, Ni, etc.) and
deposited metals (Au, Pt, Pd, Ru, Ag, Cu, Mn, etc.) associated with
the well-defined morphologies (rods, cubes, tubes, polyhedra, spheres,
fibers, etc.) of ceria for air pollution control was meticulously
discussed. We hope that this timely important review can provide promising
strategies for the rational design of advanced ceria-based catalysts
not only for air pollution control but also for important energy-related
applications.