Preparation of EuF3 and SmF3 nanoparticles via room temperature solid-state reaction

EuF3 and SmF3 nanoparticles with different morphologies have been synthesized through room-temperature solid-state reactions and characterized by XRD, TEM, SEM and XPS analyses. The results show that the nature of fluoride source plays important roles in controlling the size and morphology of the resulting rare earth fluorides. The solid-state reactions of rare earth nitrate and NHF yielded plate-like particles of EuF3 or SmF3 while the similar reactions with HF center dot NH4F yielded irregular particles. The luminescent spectra of the nanoscale EuF3 indicate that the emission intensity of EuF3 Particles is related to the sizes and morphologies.