Cerium(IV) oxide–cerium(III) oxide cycle
Okay kiddo, are you ready to learn about cerium oxide? Cerium is a special kind of metal that we can use to make electricity. We can make electricity by using cerium oxide, which is made up of two different kinds of cerium: cerium(IV) oxide and cerium(III) oxide.
The cycle starts with cerium(IV) oxide. We call it ceria for short. When we heat ceria up really hot, it reacts with oxygen to become O2 gas and cerium(III) oxide. We call cerium(III) oxide cerous, for short.
Now, we have two things. We have ceria and cerous. Ceria can also be turned back into cerous, but we need to use something called hydrogen gas to do it. When we add hydrogen gas to ceria, it takes away some of the oxygen, and we end up with cerous and water.
So, we can use ceria to make cerous and oxygen gas, and we can use hydrogen gas to turn ceria back into cerous and water. And that's how the cerium oxide–cerium(III) oxide cycle works.
The cycle starts with cerium(IV) oxide. We call it ceria for short. When we heat ceria up really hot, it reacts with oxygen to become O2 gas and cerium(III) oxide. We call cerium(III) oxide cerous, for short.
Now, we have two things. We have ceria and cerous. Ceria can also be turned back into cerous, but we need to use something called hydrogen gas to do it. When we add hydrogen gas to ceria, it takes away some of the oxygen, and we end up with cerous and water.
So, we can use ceria to make cerous and oxygen gas, and we can use hydrogen gas to turn ceria back into cerous and water. And that's how the cerium oxide–cerium(III) oxide cycle works.