Naphthalene Lanthanide Organic Intermediate Synthesis And Vacuum Pyrolysis Under Mild Conditions, Preparation Of Nano Lanthanide Metal Powder

In this paper, a new method of preparing nanometric lanthanide metal powders is mentioned. The reaction of lanthanide powders with naphthalene in the presence of initiating agent in tetrahydrofuran(THF)under mild conditions (45℃,normal pressure) generated organolanthanide compounds. It was found that the decomposition of the organolanthanide compounds in vacuum could give rise to lanthanide powders of nanometric size. These lanthanide powders are pyrophoric when exposed to air. Transmission electron micrograph, electron diffraction and BET were adopted to characterize the products. TEM images showed that the lanthanide powders formed were in the form of nanoparticles with an average primary particle size around 20-40 nm. Nanometric lanthanide metal powders are sensitive to air and moisture, so all manipulations are carried under Ar atmosphere with Schlenk technology.