A new approach to prepare nanoscopic rare earth metal fluorides: the fluorolytic sol-gel synthesis of ytterbium fluoride.

Abstract

A new approach for the preparation of approx. 5 nm sized ytterbium fluoride nanoparticles based on the fluorolytic sol-gel route is reported. DLS, TEM, IR and XRD were used to characterize the particles as well as the aging behavior of the sols. Furthermore, a new Yb(III) complex was isolated from the precursor solution and characterized by X-ray single crystal structure determination.