Novel cerium and praseodymium doped phosphate tungsten bronzes: Synthesis, characterization, the behavior in the Briggs-Rauscher reaction and photoluminescence properties

Abstract

Due to the interesting and potentially useful properties, phosphate tungsten bronzes are constantly being studied and attract a lot of attention. In the present work, two different metallic elements, belonging to the group of rare-earth metals, cerium and praseodymium, were used as a dopants for phosphate tungsten bronzes. Novel cerium and praseodymium doped phosphate tungsten bronzes were successfully synthesized and further characterized by thermal analyses, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The behavior of cerium and praseodymium doped phosphate tungsten bronzes were examined in the Briggs-Rauscher oscillatory reaction. The changes in the oscillatory dynamics, caused by the addition of cerium doped and praseodymium doped phosphate tungsten bronzes, are used for distinction of these bronzes and also as a method for testing the catalytic features of the bronzes. Beside the nonlinear behavior, the bronzes have shown photoluminescence in the visible region (blue region).