Synthesis of citrates of selected lanthanides (Er, Ho and Lu)

Abstract

Holmium, erbium and lutetium citrates can be synthesized by transforming freshly precipitated holmium, erbium and lutetium hydroxides in the citric acid solution under the hydrothermal conditions (above 100°C) after 3 days of reaction. In this paper in order to determine the synthesis conditions, the hydroxide and citrate stability areas of selected lanthanides were compared. The studies of the structure of the obtained holmium citrate, erbium and lutetium samples showed that these compounds crystallize in a monoclinic system. The crystaUite sizes determined by the Haider-Wagner method were 67.8 ± 8.0nm, 103.7 ± 4.5nm and 68.1 ± 4.2nm, respectively for the holmium citrate, erbium citrate and lutetium citrate samples. The shifts of the hydroxyl and carboxyl groups of citric acid in the FTIR spectrum indicate the interactions of both groups with holmium, erbium and lutetium cations. Then the obtained samples were subjected to the analysis of composition, and their particle size distribution was determined.