Novel synthesis and characterization of nanocrystalline thoria from oxalate precursor via reverse micellar route

Abstract

Abstract Nanoparticles of thorium oxalate were synthesized by the reaction of thorium nitrate and ammonium oxalate by the microemulsion method. The Th02 nanoparticles were obtained by heating thorium oxalate nanoparticles at 500 °C in air. The oxalate and oxide nanoparticles of thorium were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED). X-ray diffraction studies showed the mono-phasic nature of the powder thoria. The particle size was obtained from X-ray line broadening (~l0 nm) and transmission electron microscopy (~l0 nm). Dynamic light scattering (DLS) was used to calculate the average grain size of the particles. SAED confirmed the nanocrystalline nature of thoria particles. High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) was also carried out to understand the morphology of the system. The monodisperse nanoparticles of thoria are promising for future reactor technologies.