Synthesis of Y2O3 Nano-Powder from Yttrium Oxalate under Ambient Temperature

High purity Y2O3 nano-powders was synthesized directly from solution of industrial YCl3 by method of oxalate precipitation through super-micro-reactors made by complex non-ionic surfactant. The purity and diameter of Y2O3 particles were controlled by such processing parameters as concentration of YCl3 and oxalic acid and complex non-ionic surfactant etc. TEM photomicrographs show that Y2O3 particles are spherical in shape, with an average diameter of less than 30 nm. Test results certify that the purity and particle diameter as well as the dispersion of Y2O3 nano-powder depend on the concentrations of YCl3, oxalic acid and complex non-ionic surfactant. The optimum ranges of the concentrations for YCl3 and complex non-ionic surfactant when the diameter of Y2O3 particles is smaller than 100 nm are 0.43～1.4 mol·L-1 and 0.031～0.112 mol·L-1 respectively, while the mass fraction range of oxalic acid is 10%～18%. The purity of Y2O3 nano-powder tested by ICP-AES analysis is 99.99%.