Preparation and characterization of mesoporous Y2O3 and Nd2O3 films

With poly( ethylene-co-butylene)-block-poly (ethylene oxide) block copolymer(PHB-PEO) as the template, mesostructured Y2O3 and Nd2O3 thin films were successfully synthesized through the well-documented evaporation-induced self-assembly approach. The obtained samples calcined at different temperatures were characterized in detail by using small- and wide-angle X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results show that our presented Y2O3 and Nd2O3 thin films possessed an Im3m body-centered-cubic (BCC) array of distorted spherical pores with an average pore diameter of about 11.5 and 12.5 nm, respectively. Furthermore, the partial crystalline pore walls can stabilize at 450 degrees C. The investigation also indicated that a rapid self-assembly process is necessary to generate the mesoporous Y2O3 and Nd2O3 thin films. It can be achieved by the utilization of PHB-PEO template and the fast dip-coating process of evaporation-induced self-assembly.