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The formation and growth of CeOCl crystals in a molten KCl-LiCl flux

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Abstract

The formation and growth of CeOCl crystals from a Ce3+ precursor in a molten KCl-LiCl flux was investigated. The formation of CeOCl occurred through the reaction Ce3+ + Cl− + [O2−] = CeOCl, where Ce3+ came from both CeO2−x (0 < x < 0.5) and Ce2O3, and the [O2−] was the lattice oxygen. CeOCl started to form in the powder together with ceria at 400 °C under hydrogen atmosphere, and the CeOCl content was 91.3% then decreased with increasing synthesis temperature. The growth of CeOCl crystals observed by SEM images revealed that cubic CeOCl particles were formed from polyhedral flakes. Photo-Luminescence (PL) spectra showed that the violet-blue light can be emitted from synthesized powder, which suggests CeOCl can be a potential luminescence material.

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Acknowledgements

The authors appreciate the Talents & Platform Founding from Science & Technology Department of Guizhou Province, China, under Grant No. [2017]5788 and the Doctor Founding of Guizhou University with Grant No. (2017)04, the financial support from NSF/U.S.-Egypt Joint Science and Technology Board under Grant No. IIA-1445577 is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Metallurgical Engineering, College of Materials and Metallurgy, Guizhou University, Guiyang, 550025, Guizhou, China

    Yuan-Pei Lan, Junqi Li & Chaoyi Chen

  2. Guizhou Province Key Laboratory of Metallurgical Engineering and Process Energy Saving, Guiyang, 550025, Guizhou, China

    Yuan-Pei Lan, Junqi Li & Chaoyi Chen

  3. Department of Metallurgical Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA

    Hong Yong Sohn & Arun Murali

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  1. Yuan-Pei Lan
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  4. Junqi Li
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Correspondence to Yuan-Pei Lan or Hong Yong Sohn.

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Lan, YP., Sohn, H.Y., Murali, A. et al. The formation and growth of CeOCl crystals in a molten KCl-LiCl flux. Appl. Phys. A 124, 702 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-018-2122-3

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