Inorganic-salt-induced morphological evolution of GdF_3 crystals was demonstrated for the first time in a mild hydrothermal process. By varying the amount of inorganic salt, the GdF_3 crystals could transform from uniform elliptic nanostructures to submicroplates. The increase of ionic strength, hindered diffusion of reactant ions, and selectively adsorption of barium cations were responsible for such morphological transformation. Besides, relatively low concentration of F~- contributed to the formation of GdF_3 in the presence of foreign inorganic salt, instead of ternary fluoride. In addition, the luminescence properties of the as-formed nanostructures were investigated by singly doping Eu~(3+), Tb ~(3+), and Dy~(3+) into the GdF_3 matrix.
展开▼
