Syntheses, structures, optical, magnetic and superconducting properties of select lanthanide compounds

Lanthanides, some of which are abundant and others rare elements on the Earth's crust, are among the most studied transition metals. They have partially filled f orbitals which can give rise to large magnetic moments and a wide range of optical, electronic and magnetic properties in their compounds. Lanthanides exhibit a range of antiferromagnetic, ferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic behaviors due to their open 4f shell, which has atomic-like characteristics even in the solid phase. The 4f electrons are strongly localized and reside almost completely inside the filled 5s and 5p shells so they do not contribute to chemical bonding; however, they are responsible for a variety of magnetic structure and magnetic phases because of their 4f – 4f coupling mechanism.;Solid-state syntheses, in lanthanide chemistry, provides a powerful tool for engineering new materials with unique electrical, optical, magnetic and catalytic properties as well as improving the functional properties of emergent materials.;Syntheses, crystal structure and physical properties of select lanthanide compounds, La2Ge2O7, Ln5V 3O7S6 (Ln = La, Ce), Ce3Ga9Ge and LaRu2P2 will be discussed in this dissertation.