Synthesis and characterization of Ln 2O 2SO 4 (Ln = Gd, Ho, Dy and Lu) nanoparticles obtained by coprecipitation method and study of their reduction reaction under H 2 flow

摘要

We have proposed an optimized homogeneous precipitation method for the synthesis of spherical and well-dispersed pure Ln~(2)O~(2)SO~(4)(Ln = Gd, Ho, Dy and Lu) nanoparticles (NPs) using synthesized lanthanide sulfates and urea as starting materials. Ln~(2)O~(2)SO~(4)NPs can be easily transformed to Ln~(2)O~(2)S by reduction under H~(2)flow at 650?°C for Gd, Dy and Ho whereas the reduction with Lu gave only Lu~(2)O~(3). Particle size was between 500?nm and 3.5?μm. This reduction method allows to obtain Ln~(2)O~(2)S without using H~(2)S which is highly toxic and uncomfortable gas. Ln~(2)O~(2)SO~(4)/Ln~(2)O~(2)S synthetized can be used for release and oxygen storage or doped with luminescent centers for multimodal medical imaging applications. Graphical abstract