Production and Characterization of RE<sup>3+</sup>:Yb<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3 </sub> Nanoparticles

Abstract

In this study, doped ytterbium oxide (Yb2O3) nanoparticles (NPs) with different dopant type (Eu and / or Tb) and undoped were synthesized by wet chemical method using nitrate salt as a starting source. Afterwards, they were calcined at 900 °C for 4 h. The crystal structure phase, size, and morphology of undoped and doped Yb2O3 nanoparticles (NPs) were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Undoped and doped NPs were exhibited cubic bixbyite-type crystal structure (Ia-3 space group). Lattice parameter changes caused by dopant element in NPs were examined using X-ray peak profile analysis. In order to investigate the occuring changes in the crystal structure, average crystallite size (CS) and lattice parameter (LP) values were computed with Williamson–Hall (W–H) and Cohen-Wagner (C–W) methods, respectively. It was observed that the crystal structure of the doped NPs expanded compared to the undoped Yb2O3 NPs, which explains the increase in the LP and CS values. The LP values of all the NPs were ranged from 10.444 Å (R2 = 94.9) to 10.453 Å (R2 = 81.8) while the CS of them were between 19 nm (R2 = 95.9) and 24 nm (R2 = 88.8). All the NPs exhibited nearly spherical and agglomerate structure and there were also few pores between the agglomerate particles in the structure. Besides, continuous agglomerate morphology formation was observed in particles containing Tb. The average nanoparticle size values were varied between 46 and 115 nm depending on the dopant element.