Novel Gd(OH)3, GdOOH and Gd2O3 Nanorods: Microwave-Assisted Hydrothermal Synthesis and Optical Properties

Maria Aparecida Bezerra dos Santos,Maria Rita de Cássia Santos,Maciel Salomão de Almeida,Ivo Mateus Pinatti,Elson Longo,Rosana de Fátima Gonçalves,Maya Dayana Penha Silva,Felipe de Almeida La Porta,Mario Junior Godinho,Ana Paula de Azevedo Marques

doi:10.1590/1980-5373-mr-2016-0252

Abstract

We present a study of the controlled synthesis and optical properties of single-crystals Gd(OH)3, GdOOH and Gd2O3 nanorods. In this work, Gd(OH)3 nanorods were synthesized by a simple and fast microwave-assisted hydrothermal method. This process combined with the thermal decomposition oxidation of Gd(OH)3 nanorods as precursors enabled the preparation of single-crystalline GdOOH and Gd2O3 structures with well-defined morphology at low temperatures. The crystal structure dependence on the optical properties was investigated. We observed a green shift effect on the photoluminescence (PL) emission spectra from Gd(OH)3 to Gd2O3 nanorods, which can be attributed to different types of surface defects, as well as intrinsic properties that contribute significantly to the modified PL behavior.

Highlights

Nowadays, rare earth hydroxide/oxide nanomaterials have received special attention because of their excellent physical and chemical properties, which provide a wide variety of applications in the nanotechnology field[1,2,3,4,5,6]
We report a facile and simple, low-temperature synthesis of single-crystalline Gd(OH)[3], gadolinium oxyhydroxide (GdOOH) and Gd2O3 nanorods obtained by the microwaveassisted hydrothermal (MAH) method combined with thermal decomposition oxidation process
Materials Research paper discuss the electronic effects in order to establishes a close correlation between the structure and properties for the single-crystalline Gd(OH)[3], GdOOH and Gd2O3 nanorods

Summary

Introduction

Rare earth hydroxide/oxide nanomaterials have received special attention because of their excellent physical and chemical properties, which provide a wide variety of applications in the nanotechnology field[1,2,3,4,5,6]. The microwaveassisted hydrothermal (MAH) method has shown numerous advantages such as the use of an environmentally friendly solvent (water) and low processing temperatures (≤200 °C) This method provides a simple and fast approach for the large-scale production of new emergent complex functional materials. We report a facile and simple, low-temperature synthesis of single-crystalline Gd(OH)[3], GdOOH and Gd2O3 nanorods obtained by the MAH method combined with thermal decomposition oxidation process. These microcrystals were structurally characterized by different techniques and the optical properties of the crystal structures obtained were investigated using ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL) measurements at room temperature. Materials Research paper discuss the electronic effects in order to establishes a close correlation between the structure and properties for the single-crystalline Gd(OH)[3], GdOOH and Gd2O3 nanorods

Experimental

Results and discussion

Findings

Conclusions