Cerium oxide is a very interesting material that finds applications in many different fields, such as catalysis, energy conversion, and biomedicine. An interesting approach to unravel the complexity of real systems and obtain an improved understanding of cerium oxide-based materials is represented by the study of model systems in the form of epitaxial ultrathin films or nanostructures supported on single crystalline substrates. These materials often show interesting novel properties, induced by spatial confinement and by the interaction with the supporting substrate, and their understanding requires the use of advanced experimental techniques combined with computational modeling. Recent experimental and theoretical studies performed within this field are examined and discussed here, with emphasis on the new perspectives introduced in view of the optimization of cerium oxide-based materials for application in different fields.
Keywords: X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy; interface structure; low-energy electron diffraction; oxidation state; reactive molecular beam epitaxy; reducible oxides; scanning tunneling microscopy; strain; surface morphology.