Hindawi Publishing CorporationJournal of NanomaterialsVolume 2013 Article ID 130514 7 pageshttpdxdoiorg1011552013130514
Research ArticleHydrothermal Synthesis of Ln(OH)
3Nanorods and
the Conversion to Ln2O3
(Ln = Eu Nd Dy) Nanorods viaAnnealing Process
Yanhua Zhu Xiang Zhai and Lingling Wang
School of Physics and Microelectronics Hunan University Changsha 410082 China
Correspondence should be addressed to Lingling Wang llwanghnueducn
Received 11 September 2013 Accepted 13 November 2013
Academic Editor Anukorn Phuruangrat
Copyright copy 2013 Yanhua Zhu et al This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution Licensewhich permits unrestricted use distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original work is properly cited
One-dimensional rare earth oxides and hydroxides are of importance in many applications due to their rich physicochemicalproperties In this work we synthesized Ln(OH)
3(Ln = Eu Nd Dy) nanorods by a hydrothermal method with the assistance of
n-butylamine as an alkaline resource The porous Ln2O3nanorods were produced through annealing the corresponding Ln(OH)
3
nanorods XRD and TEM techniques were employed to characterize the productsThe annealing process and the optical propertiesof as-synthesized Ln
2O3are also investigated by TG and PL test We expected that these nanomaterials could find potential
applications in the future
1 Introduction
Over the past decades one-dimensional (1D) nanostructuressuch as nanowires nanorods nanotubes and nanoribbonshave attained increasing attention due to unique propertiesin mesoscopic physics and applications for nanoscale devices[1ndash6] In particular the corresponding porous nanomaterialsare of interest in a broad range of applications relying on theincorporation of specific guests into pores of different sizesand on the transport of such guests through the pores [7ndash9]Moreover chemical composition also plays an important rolein determining physicochemical properties of the materialsand interfacial interactions [10ndash13] Therefore it is mean-ingful to synthesize the 1D mesoporous nanostructures withvaried chemical components and investigate the relationsbetween chemical components and properties
Rare earth compounds have been extensively investigatedinmanyfields including high performancemagnets lumines-cent devices catalysts and other technical applications basedon the electronic optical and chemical characteristics arisingfrom their 4f electrons [14ndash20] So much effort has focusedon the synthesis of rare earth oxides [20ndash22] Hydrothermalmethod is proved to be an effective route to synthesizematerials with various nanostructures [23 24] Therefore it
ismeaningful to develop an alternative hydrothermalmethodfor preparing rare earth compounds
In this work we developed a facile hydrothermal methodfor synthesizing Ln(OH)
3(Ln = EuNdDy) nanorodsMore-
over the porous Ln2O3nanorods with the same shape have
been obtained through annealing the Ln(OH)3nanorods
Various techniques were employed to characterize the prod-ucts and the results showed that the hydroxide and oxidenanorods displayed the same shape and high crystallinityIt is expected that these nanomaterials could find potentialapplications in the future
2 Experimental Section
21 Chemicals All of the chemicals were purchased withoutfurther purification
22 Synthesis In a typical synthesis 05mmol of Ln(NO3)3
sdot6H2O (Ln = Eu Nd Dy) was dissolved in 12mL of distilled
water and then 3mL of n-butylamine was added underconstant stirring Subsequently the resulting solution wastransferred into a 20mLTeflon-lined autoclaveThe autoclavewas sealed heated and maintained at 180∘C for 16 h After
2 Journal of Nanomaterials
Inte
nsity
(au
)
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80100
100
100
110
110
110
101
101
101
200
200
200
111
201
201
201
210
210
210
300
300
300
211
211
211
220
112
112
112
311
311
311
302
302
302
PDF 17-0781
PDF 85-2203
PDF 19-0430
102
102
310
310
212
212
231
222
2120579 (deg)
(c)
(b)
(a)
Figure 1 XRD patterns of the as-synthesized Ln(OH)3 (a) Eu(OH)
3 (b) Nd(OH)
3 and (c) Dy(OH)
3
the autoclaves were completed the resulting product wascentrifuged followed by washing with distilled water andethanol several timesThe as-synthesized precursor nanorodswere finally dried in a vacuum oven at 60∘C for 4 h andused for further characterization Porous Ln
2O3(Ln = Eu
NdDy) nanorodswere obtained by calcining the as-preparedprecursor nanowires at 700∘C for 2 h
23 Characterization The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patternsof the products were recorded with a Rigaku Dmax Diffrac-tion System using a Cu K120572 source (120582= 015406 nm) Thehigh-resolution transmission electronmicroscopy (HRTEM)images were taken on a JEOL 2010 high-resolution transmis-sion electronmicroscope performed at 200 kVThe specimenof HR-TEM measurement was prepared via spreading adroplet of ethanol suspension onto a copper grid coated witha thin layer of amorphous carbon film and allowed to dry inair The thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was investigatedon continuous measurement of weight on a thermobalanceas sample temperature is increased The room temperaturephotoluminescence (PL) spectra of samples were recorded onaHitachi F-4500 FL spectrophotometer with a Xe lamp as theexcitation light source
3 Results and Discussion
31 Characterizations of Structure and Morphology Thepurity and crystallinity of as-prepared samples were exam-ined by XRD technique (Figure 1) Figures 1(a)ndash1(c) show theXRD patterns of the as-prepared Eu(OH)
3 Nd(OH)
3 and
Dy(OH)3nanorods respectively The diffraction patterns of
the as-prepared three products can be indexed to the purehexagonal phase (space group P63m) which are consistentwith the values in the standard cards (JCPDS no 85-2203 forEu(OH)
3 17-0781 for Nd(OH)
3 and 19-0430 for Dy(OH)
3)
The narrow sharp peaks suggest that the Ln(OH)3(Ln
= Eu Nd Dy) samples are highly crystalline No otherpeaks are observed indicating high purity of the as-prepared
samples Interestingly we found that as Ln atom increasesthe diffraction patterns shift to small anglesThis is attributedto the fact that crystal lattice of Ln(OH)
3is increased as the
atomic number is increasedThe morphology and structure of as-synthesized
Ln(OH)3
nanorods were characterized by transmissionelectron microscope (TEM) as shown in Figure 2 Figures2(a) and 2(b) show the low- and high-magnification TEMimages of Eu(OH)
3nanorods respectively In Figure 2(a) one
can find that the length of Eu(OH)3nanorods ranges from 60
to 150 nm and their diameter is about 15 nm In Figure 2(b)one can find that not all the surface of the nanorods is wellcrystalline Figures 2(c) and 2(e) show the TEM images ofNd(OH)
3and Dy(OH)
3nanorods respectively The length
of Nd(OH)3nanorods is about 120 nm and their diameter
ranges from 20 to 30 nm as shown in Figure 2(c) ForDy(OH)
3nanorods they have not a uniform length ranging
from 200 nm to several micrometers and diameter is about20 nm Similarly the high-magnification TEM images ofNd(OH)
3and Dy(OH)
3nanorods (Figures 2(d) and 2(f))
display that their surface is not well crystalline Howeverthere are clear crystalline lattices for some places of theirsurfaces as shown in the inset of Figures 2(b) 2(d) and 2(f)The growth of Ln(OH)
3nanorods can be explained by the
1D growth habit and assistance of n-butylamine [25]
32 Conversion of Ln(OH)3to Ln
2O3(Ln = Eu Nd Dy)
The decomposition process was studied by TGA test Asshown in Figure 3 the TGA results indicate the experimentalmass losses of sim139 (for Eu(OH)
3) sim141 (for Nd(OH)
3)
and sim133 (for Dy(OH)3) which are corresponding to the
theoretical values (133 for Eu(OH)3 139 for Nd(OH)
3
and 127 for Dy(OH)3 resp) The good agreement with
theoretical values implies that the as-prepared precursornanorods have been completely decomposed during thecalcination process which lays an excellent foundation for thecrystallization of the Ln
2O3nanostructures Moreover TGA
curves also exhibit a multiple dehydration process during the
Journal of Nanomaterials 3
100nm
(a)
10nm2nm
(b)
100nm
(c)
10nm
2nm
(d)
200nm
(e)
10nm
2nm
(f)
Figure 2 TEM images of the as-synthesized Ln(OH)3 ((a) and (b)) Eu(OH)
3 ((c) and (d)) Nd(OH)
3 and ((e) and (f)) Dy(OH)
3
decomposition which can generally be described by the twoequations [26]
Ln(OH)3 997888rarr LnOOH +H2O
2LnOOH 997888rarr Ln2O3+H2O
(1)
Figure 4 shows the XRDpatterns of the as-decomposed prod-ucts of the Ln(OH)
3(Ln = Eu Nd Dy) nanorods obtained
after 2 h treatment at 700∘C The XRD peaks of Ln(OH)3
(Ln = Eu Nd Dy) completely disappeared and only the
peaks of Ln2O3(Ln = Eu Nd Dy) were observed All of the
peaks in this pattern can be indexed as the pure cubic phasewhich are consistent with the values in the standard cards(JCPDS no 86-2476 for Eu
2O3 12-0393 for Nd
2O3 and 10-
0059 for Dy2O3) After complete decomposition at 700∘C
the well-faceted Ln(OH)3(Ln = Eu Nd Dy) nanorods were
fully transformed into nanoporous Ln2O3(Ln = Eu Nd
Dy) nanorods with no significant changes in the overallmorphology as shown in Figures 5(a)ndash5(f) The detailedstructures of the as-synthesized Ln
Figure 4 XRD patterns of the as-synthesized Ln2O3 (a) Eu
2O3 (b) Nd
2O3 and (c) Dy
2O3
Journal of Nanomaterials 5
100nm
(a)
100nm
50nm
(b)
100nm
(c)
25nm
Pores
(d)
100nm
(e)
25nm
Pores
50nm
(f)
Figure 5 TEM images of the as-synthesized Ln2O3 ((a) and (b)) Eu
2O3 ((c) and (d)) Nd
2O3 and ((e) and (f)) Dy
2O3
samples were further investigated by TEM (Figures 5(b) 5(d)and 5(f)) One could see that there exist some defects onthe surface of Eu
2O3nanorods (the insets of Figure 5(b))
In addition the pores on the Ln2O3(Ln = Eu Nd Dy)
nanorods could also be clearly detected as shown in Figures5(b) 5(d) and 5(f) The formation of porous structures isoriginated from the release of water molecular [27]
Figure 6 shows the PL spectrum of Eu2O3nanorods that
were selected as a representative to study the optical propertyof the as-synthesized Ln
2O3nanorods One can find from the
figure that the Eu2O3nanorods exhibit a strong emission peak
around 618 nm which is caused by the forced electric dipoletransition (5D
0ndash7F2) [28] This indicates that the pure cubic
phase Eu2O3has been produced which is consistent with the
XRD result
4 Conclusion
In summary we have successfully synthesized the Ln(OH)3
(Ln = Eu Nd Dy) nanorods via a facile hydrothermalroute assisted by n-butylamine and obtained the corre-sponding porous Ln
2O3nanorods through annealing the
Ln(OH)3nanorodsTheXRDandTEM techniques have been
employed to characterize the hydroxide and oxide nanorodsMoreover the possible formation mechanism of Ln(OH)
3
6 Journal of Nanomaterials
Inte
nsity
(au
)
560 580 600 620 640 660 680
Wavelength (nm)
Figure 6 Luminescence spectrum (excitation at 254 nm) of as-synthesized Eu2O3nanorods at room temperature
nanorods has been proposed The as-synthesized Ln(OH)3
and Ln2O3nanorods are expected to be used in catalysis gas
sensors and other fields in the future
Conflict of Interests
The authors would like to declare that they do not have anycommercial or associative interests that represents a conflictof interest in connection with the submitted paper
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Natural ScienceFoundation of China (Grant nos 11074069 and 61176116)the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program ofHigher Education of China (Grant no 20120161130003) theHunan Provincial Science and Technology Project of China(Grant no 2013FJ4043) and Aid program for Science andTechnology Innovative Research Team inHigher EducationalInstitutions of Hunan Province
References
[1] J T Robinson G S Hong Y Y Liang B Zhang O K Yaghiand H Y Dai ldquoIn vivo fluorescence imaging in the secondnear-infrared window with long circulating carbon nanotubescapable of ultrahigh tumor uptakerdquo Journal of the AmericanChemical Society vol 134 no 25 pp 10664ndash10669 2012
[2] J M Ma Y P Wang Y J Wang Q Chen J B Lian andW J Zheng ldquoControlled synthesis of one-dimensional Sb
2Se3
nanostructures and their Electrochemical propertiesrdquo Journalof Physical Chemistry C vol 113 no 31 pp 13588ndash13592 2009
[3] L F Hu J Yan M Y Liao et al ldquoAn optimized ultraviolet-alight photodetector with wide-range photoresponse based onznszno biaxial nanobeltrdquo Advanced Materials vol 24 no 17pp 2305ndash2309 2012
[4] J M Ma Y PWang Y J Wang et al ldquoOne-dimensional Sb2Se3
[5] J M Ma L Mei Y J Chen et al ldquo120572-Fe2O3nanochains ammo-
nium acetate-based ionothermal synthesis and ultrasensitivesensors for low-ppm-level H
2S gasrdquo Nanoscale vol 5 no 3 pp
895ndash898 2013[6] S La J H Hafner N J Halas S Link and P Nordlander
ldquoNoble metal nanowires from plasmon waveguides to passiveand active devicesrdquo Accounts of Chemical Research vol 45 no11 pp 1887ndash1895 2012
[7] X J Xu X S Fang T Y Zhai et al ldquoTube-in-tube TiO2nan-
otubes with porous walls fabrication formation mechanismand photocatalytic propertiesrdquo Small vol 7 no 4 pp 445ndash4492011
[8] Y Q Qu H L Zhou and X F Duan ldquoPorous siliconnanowiresrdquo Nanoscale vol 3 no 10 pp 4060ndash4068 2011
[9] X L Zhang F Y Cheng J G Yang and J ChenldquoLiNi
05Mn15O4
Porous nanorods as high-rate and long-life cathodes for Li-ion batteriesrdquo Nano Letters vol 13 no 6pp 2822ndash2825 2013
[10] J M Ma J Teo L Mei Z et al ldquoPorous platelike hematitemesocrystals synthesis catalytic and gas-sensing applicationsrdquoJournal of Materials Chemistry vol 22 no 23 pp 11694ndash117002012
[11] J MMa J Zhang S RWang et al ldquoTopochemical preparationof WO
3nanoplates through precursor H
2WO4and their gas-
sensing performancesrdquo Journal of Physical Chemistry C vol 115no 37 pp 18157ndash18163 2011
[12] J M Ma J Zhang S R Wang et al ldquoSuperior gas-sensing andlithium-storage performance SnO
2nanocrystals synthesized
by hydrothermal methodrdquo CrystEngComm vol 13 no 20 pp6077ndash6081 2011
[13] J M Ma X C Duan J B Lian et al ldquoSb2S3with various
[14] G S Wu L D Zhang B C Cheng T Xie and X Y YuanldquoSynthesis of Eu
2O3nanotube arrays through a facile Sol-Gel
template approachrdquo Journal of the American Chemical Societyvol 126 no 19 pp 5976ndash5977 2004
[15] F Cui J Zhang T Cui et al ldquoA facile solution-phaseapproach to the synthesis of luminescent europium methacry-late nanowires and their thermal conversion into europium
Journal of Nanomaterials 7
oxide nanotubesrdquo Nanotechnology vol 19 no 6 Article ID065607 2008
[16] J M Li X L Zeng Y H Dong and Z A Xu ldquoWhite-lightemission and weak antiferromagnetism from cubic rare-earthoxide Eu
15 no 13 pp 2372ndash2377 2013[17] C R Michel A H Martinez-Preciado and N L L Contr-
eras ldquoGas sensing properties of Nd2O3nanostructured micro-
spheresrdquo Sensor vol 184 pp 8ndash14 2013[18] B Umesh B Eraiah H Nagabhushana et al ldquoSynthesis
and characterization of spherical and rod like nanocrystallineNd2O3phosphorsrdquo Journal of Alloys and Compounds vol 509
no 4 pp 1146ndash1151 2011[19] M Chandrasekhar D V Sunitha N Dhananjaya et al ldquoTher-
moluminescence response in gamma and UV irradiated Dy2O3
nanophosphorrdquo Journal of Luminescence vol 132 no 7 pp1798ndash1806 2013
[20] M Norek E Kampert U Zeitler and J A Peters ldquoTuning ofthe size of Dy
2O3nanoparticles for optimal performance as an
MRI contrast agentrdquo Journal of the American Chemical Societyvol 130 no 15 pp 5335ndash5340 2008
[21] L X Zhang Y X Sun H F Jiu Y H Fu Y Z Wang and J YZhang ldquoSolvothermal synthesis of hollow Eu
2O3microspheres
using carbon template-assisted methodrdquo Chemical Papers vol66 no 8 pp 741ndash747 2012
[22] P Zhang Y Zhao T Zhai et al ldquoPreparation and magneticproperties of polycrystalline Eu
2O3microwiresrdquo Journal of the
Electrochemical Society vol 159 no 4 pp D204ndashD207 2012[23] J M Ma D N Lei X C Duan et al ldquoDesignable fabrication
of flower-like SnS2aggregates with excellent performance in
lithium-ion batteriesrdquoRSCAdvances vol 2 no 9 pp 3615ndash36172012
[24] JMMa DN Lei LMei et al ldquoPlate-like SnS2nanostructures
hydrothermal preparation growth mechanism and excellentelectrochemical propertiesrdquo CrystEngComm vol 14 no 3 pp832ndash836 2012
[25] S Y Liu Y Cai X Y Cai et al ldquoCatalytic photodegradation ofCongo red in aqueous solution by Ln(OH)
3(Ln =Nd Sm Eu
Gd Tb and Dy) nanorodsrdquo Applied Catalysis A vol 453 pp45ndash53 2013
[26] M P Rosynek andD TMagnuson ldquoPreparation and character-ization of catalytic lanthanum oxiderdquo Journal of Catalysis vol46 no 3 pp 402ndash413 1977
[27] J M Ma J Q Yang L F Jiao et al ldquoNiO nanomaterials con-trolled fabrication formationmechanism and the application inlithium-ion batteryrdquoCrystEngComm vol 14 no 2 pp 453ndash4592012
[28] N Du H Zhang B Chen J Wu D Li and D Yang ldquoLowtemperature chemical reaction synthesis of single-crystallineEu(OH)
3nanorods and their thermal conversion to Eu
2O3
nanorodsrdquo Nanotechnology vol 18 no 6 Article ID 0656052007
Figure 1 XRD patterns of the as-synthesized Ln(OH)3 (a) Eu(OH)
3 (b) Nd(OH)
3 and (c) Dy(OH)
3
the autoclaves were completed the resulting product wascentrifuged followed by washing with distilled water andethanol several timesThe as-synthesized precursor nanorodswere finally dried in a vacuum oven at 60∘C for 4 h andused for further characterization Porous Ln
2O3(Ln = Eu
NdDy) nanorodswere obtained by calcining the as-preparedprecursor nanowires at 700∘C for 2 h
23 Characterization The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patternsof the products were recorded with a Rigaku Dmax Diffrac-tion System using a Cu K120572 source (120582= 015406 nm) Thehigh-resolution transmission electronmicroscopy (HRTEM)images were taken on a JEOL 2010 high-resolution transmis-sion electronmicroscope performed at 200 kVThe specimenof HR-TEM measurement was prepared via spreading adroplet of ethanol suspension onto a copper grid coated witha thin layer of amorphous carbon film and allowed to dry inair The thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was investigatedon continuous measurement of weight on a thermobalanceas sample temperature is increased The room temperaturephotoluminescence (PL) spectra of samples were recorded onaHitachi F-4500 FL spectrophotometer with a Xe lamp as theexcitation light source
3 Results and Discussion
31 Characterizations of Structure and Morphology Thepurity and crystallinity of as-prepared samples were exam-ined by XRD technique (Figure 1) Figures 1(a)ndash1(c) show theXRD patterns of the as-prepared Eu(OH)
3 Nd(OH)
3 and
Dy(OH)3nanorods respectively The diffraction patterns of
the as-prepared three products can be indexed to the purehexagonal phase (space group P63m) which are consistentwith the values in the standard cards (JCPDS no 85-2203 forEu(OH)
3 17-0781 for Nd(OH)
3 and 19-0430 for Dy(OH)
3)
The narrow sharp peaks suggest that the Ln(OH)3(Ln
= Eu Nd Dy) samples are highly crystalline No otherpeaks are observed indicating high purity of the as-prepared
samples Interestingly we found that as Ln atom increasesthe diffraction patterns shift to small anglesThis is attributedto the fact that crystal lattice of Ln(OH)
3is increased as the
atomic number is increasedThe morphology and structure of as-synthesized
Ln(OH)3
nanorods were characterized by transmissionelectron microscope (TEM) as shown in Figure 2 Figures2(a) and 2(b) show the low- and high-magnification TEMimages of Eu(OH)
3nanorods respectively In Figure 2(a) one
can find that the length of Eu(OH)3nanorods ranges from 60
to 150 nm and their diameter is about 15 nm In Figure 2(b)one can find that not all the surface of the nanorods is wellcrystalline Figures 2(c) and 2(e) show the TEM images ofNd(OH)
3and Dy(OH)
3nanorods respectively The length
of Nd(OH)3nanorods is about 120 nm and their diameter
ranges from 20 to 30 nm as shown in Figure 2(c) ForDy(OH)
3nanorods they have not a uniform length ranging
from 200 nm to several micrometers and diameter is about20 nm Similarly the high-magnification TEM images ofNd(OH)
3and Dy(OH)
3nanorods (Figures 2(d) and 2(f))
display that their surface is not well crystalline Howeverthere are clear crystalline lattices for some places of theirsurfaces as shown in the inset of Figures 2(b) 2(d) and 2(f)The growth of Ln(OH)
3nanorods can be explained by the
1D growth habit and assistance of n-butylamine [25]
32 Conversion of Ln(OH)3to Ln
2O3(Ln = Eu Nd Dy)
The decomposition process was studied by TGA test Asshown in Figure 3 the TGA results indicate the experimentalmass losses of sim139 (for Eu(OH)
3) sim141 (for Nd(OH)
3)
and sim133 (for Dy(OH)3) which are corresponding to the
theoretical values (133 for Eu(OH)3 139 for Nd(OH)
3
and 127 for Dy(OH)3 resp) The good agreement with
theoretical values implies that the as-prepared precursornanorods have been completely decomposed during thecalcination process which lays an excellent foundation for thecrystallization of the Ln
2O3nanostructures Moreover TGA
curves also exhibit a multiple dehydration process during the
Journal of Nanomaterials 3
100nm
(a)
10nm2nm
(b)
100nm
(c)
10nm
2nm
(d)
200nm
(e)
10nm
2nm
(f)
Figure 2 TEM images of the as-synthesized Ln(OH)3 ((a) and (b)) Eu(OH)
3 ((c) and (d)) Nd(OH)
3 and ((e) and (f)) Dy(OH)
3
decomposition which can generally be described by the twoequations [26]
Ln(OH)3 997888rarr LnOOH +H2O
2LnOOH 997888rarr Ln2O3+H2O
(1)
Figure 4 shows the XRDpatterns of the as-decomposed prod-ucts of the Ln(OH)
3(Ln = Eu Nd Dy) nanorods obtained
after 2 h treatment at 700∘C The XRD peaks of Ln(OH)3
(Ln = Eu Nd Dy) completely disappeared and only the
peaks of Ln2O3(Ln = Eu Nd Dy) were observed All of the
peaks in this pattern can be indexed as the pure cubic phasewhich are consistent with the values in the standard cards(JCPDS no 86-2476 for Eu
2O3 12-0393 for Nd
2O3 and 10-
0059 for Dy2O3) After complete decomposition at 700∘C
the well-faceted Ln(OH)3(Ln = Eu Nd Dy) nanorods were
fully transformed into nanoporous Ln2O3(Ln = Eu Nd
Dy) nanorods with no significant changes in the overallmorphology as shown in Figures 5(a)ndash5(f) The detailedstructures of the as-synthesized Ln
Figure 4 XRD patterns of the as-synthesized Ln2O3 (a) Eu
2O3 (b) Nd
2O3 and (c) Dy
2O3
Journal of Nanomaterials 5
100nm
(a)
100nm
50nm
(b)
100nm
(c)
25nm
Pores
(d)
100nm
(e)
25nm
Pores
50nm
(f)
Figure 5 TEM images of the as-synthesized Ln2O3 ((a) and (b)) Eu
2O3 ((c) and (d)) Nd
2O3 and ((e) and (f)) Dy
2O3
samples were further investigated by TEM (Figures 5(b) 5(d)and 5(f)) One could see that there exist some defects onthe surface of Eu
2O3nanorods (the insets of Figure 5(b))
In addition the pores on the Ln2O3(Ln = Eu Nd Dy)
nanorods could also be clearly detected as shown in Figures5(b) 5(d) and 5(f) The formation of porous structures isoriginated from the release of water molecular [27]
Figure 6 shows the PL spectrum of Eu2O3nanorods that
were selected as a representative to study the optical propertyof the as-synthesized Ln
2O3nanorods One can find from the
figure that the Eu2O3nanorods exhibit a strong emission peak
around 618 nm which is caused by the forced electric dipoletransition (5D
0ndash7F2) [28] This indicates that the pure cubic
phase Eu2O3has been produced which is consistent with the
XRD result
4 Conclusion
In summary we have successfully synthesized the Ln(OH)3
(Ln = Eu Nd Dy) nanorods via a facile hydrothermalroute assisted by n-butylamine and obtained the corre-sponding porous Ln
2O3nanorods through annealing the
Ln(OH)3nanorodsTheXRDandTEM techniques have been
employed to characterize the hydroxide and oxide nanorodsMoreover the possible formation mechanism of Ln(OH)
3
6 Journal of Nanomaterials
Inte
nsity
(au
)
560 580 600 620 640 660 680
Wavelength (nm)
Figure 6 Luminescence spectrum (excitation at 254 nm) of as-synthesized Eu2O3nanorods at room temperature
nanorods has been proposed The as-synthesized Ln(OH)3
and Ln2O3nanorods are expected to be used in catalysis gas
sensors and other fields in the future
Conflict of Interests
The authors would like to declare that they do not have anycommercial or associative interests that represents a conflictof interest in connection with the submitted paper
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Natural ScienceFoundation of China (Grant nos 11074069 and 61176116)the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program ofHigher Education of China (Grant no 20120161130003) theHunan Provincial Science and Technology Project of China(Grant no 2013FJ4043) and Aid program for Science andTechnology Innovative Research Team inHigher EducationalInstitutions of Hunan Province
References
[1] J T Robinson G S Hong Y Y Liang B Zhang O K Yaghiand H Y Dai ldquoIn vivo fluorescence imaging in the secondnear-infrared window with long circulating carbon nanotubescapable of ultrahigh tumor uptakerdquo Journal of the AmericanChemical Society vol 134 no 25 pp 10664ndash10669 2012
[2] J M Ma Y P Wang Y J Wang Q Chen J B Lian andW J Zheng ldquoControlled synthesis of one-dimensional Sb
2Se3
nanostructures and their Electrochemical propertiesrdquo Journalof Physical Chemistry C vol 113 no 31 pp 13588ndash13592 2009
[3] L F Hu J Yan M Y Liao et al ldquoAn optimized ultraviolet-alight photodetector with wide-range photoresponse based onznszno biaxial nanobeltrdquo Advanced Materials vol 24 no 17pp 2305ndash2309 2012
[4] J M Ma Y PWang Y J Wang et al ldquoOne-dimensional Sb2Se3
[5] J M Ma L Mei Y J Chen et al ldquo120572-Fe2O3nanochains ammo-
nium acetate-based ionothermal synthesis and ultrasensitivesensors for low-ppm-level H
2S gasrdquo Nanoscale vol 5 no 3 pp
895ndash898 2013[6] S La J H Hafner N J Halas S Link and P Nordlander
ldquoNoble metal nanowires from plasmon waveguides to passiveand active devicesrdquo Accounts of Chemical Research vol 45 no11 pp 1887ndash1895 2012
[7] X J Xu X S Fang T Y Zhai et al ldquoTube-in-tube TiO2nan-
otubes with porous walls fabrication formation mechanismand photocatalytic propertiesrdquo Small vol 7 no 4 pp 445ndash4492011
[8] Y Q Qu H L Zhou and X F Duan ldquoPorous siliconnanowiresrdquo Nanoscale vol 3 no 10 pp 4060ndash4068 2011
[9] X L Zhang F Y Cheng J G Yang and J ChenldquoLiNi
05Mn15O4
Porous nanorods as high-rate and long-life cathodes for Li-ion batteriesrdquo Nano Letters vol 13 no 6pp 2822ndash2825 2013
[10] J M Ma J Teo L Mei Z et al ldquoPorous platelike hematitemesocrystals synthesis catalytic and gas-sensing applicationsrdquoJournal of Materials Chemistry vol 22 no 23 pp 11694ndash117002012
[11] J MMa J Zhang S RWang et al ldquoTopochemical preparationof WO
3nanoplates through precursor H
2WO4and their gas-
sensing performancesrdquo Journal of Physical Chemistry C vol 115no 37 pp 18157ndash18163 2011
[12] J M Ma J Zhang S R Wang et al ldquoSuperior gas-sensing andlithium-storage performance SnO
2nanocrystals synthesized
by hydrothermal methodrdquo CrystEngComm vol 13 no 20 pp6077ndash6081 2011
[13] J M Ma X C Duan J B Lian et al ldquoSb2S3with various
[14] G S Wu L D Zhang B C Cheng T Xie and X Y YuanldquoSynthesis of Eu
2O3nanotube arrays through a facile Sol-Gel
template approachrdquo Journal of the American Chemical Societyvol 126 no 19 pp 5976ndash5977 2004
[15] F Cui J Zhang T Cui et al ldquoA facile solution-phaseapproach to the synthesis of luminescent europium methacry-late nanowires and their thermal conversion into europium
Journal of Nanomaterials 7
oxide nanotubesrdquo Nanotechnology vol 19 no 6 Article ID065607 2008
[16] J M Li X L Zeng Y H Dong and Z A Xu ldquoWhite-lightemission and weak antiferromagnetism from cubic rare-earthoxide Eu
15 no 13 pp 2372ndash2377 2013[17] C R Michel A H Martinez-Preciado and N L L Contr-
eras ldquoGas sensing properties of Nd2O3nanostructured micro-
spheresrdquo Sensor vol 184 pp 8ndash14 2013[18] B Umesh B Eraiah H Nagabhushana et al ldquoSynthesis
and characterization of spherical and rod like nanocrystallineNd2O3phosphorsrdquo Journal of Alloys and Compounds vol 509
no 4 pp 1146ndash1151 2011[19] M Chandrasekhar D V Sunitha N Dhananjaya et al ldquoTher-
moluminescence response in gamma and UV irradiated Dy2O3
nanophosphorrdquo Journal of Luminescence vol 132 no 7 pp1798ndash1806 2013
[20] M Norek E Kampert U Zeitler and J A Peters ldquoTuning ofthe size of Dy
2O3nanoparticles for optimal performance as an
MRI contrast agentrdquo Journal of the American Chemical Societyvol 130 no 15 pp 5335ndash5340 2008
[21] L X Zhang Y X Sun H F Jiu Y H Fu Y Z Wang and J YZhang ldquoSolvothermal synthesis of hollow Eu
2O3microspheres
using carbon template-assisted methodrdquo Chemical Papers vol66 no 8 pp 741ndash747 2012
[22] P Zhang Y Zhao T Zhai et al ldquoPreparation and magneticproperties of polycrystalline Eu
2O3microwiresrdquo Journal of the
Electrochemical Society vol 159 no 4 pp D204ndashD207 2012[23] J M Ma D N Lei X C Duan et al ldquoDesignable fabrication
of flower-like SnS2aggregates with excellent performance in
lithium-ion batteriesrdquoRSCAdvances vol 2 no 9 pp 3615ndash36172012
[24] JMMa DN Lei LMei et al ldquoPlate-like SnS2nanostructures
hydrothermal preparation growth mechanism and excellentelectrochemical propertiesrdquo CrystEngComm vol 14 no 3 pp832ndash836 2012
[25] S Y Liu Y Cai X Y Cai et al ldquoCatalytic photodegradation ofCongo red in aqueous solution by Ln(OH)
3(Ln =Nd Sm Eu
Gd Tb and Dy) nanorodsrdquo Applied Catalysis A vol 453 pp45ndash53 2013
[26] M P Rosynek andD TMagnuson ldquoPreparation and character-ization of catalytic lanthanum oxiderdquo Journal of Catalysis vol46 no 3 pp 402ndash413 1977
[27] J M Ma J Q Yang L F Jiao et al ldquoNiO nanomaterials con-trolled fabrication formationmechanism and the application inlithium-ion batteryrdquoCrystEngComm vol 14 no 2 pp 453ndash4592012
[28] N Du H Zhang B Chen J Wu D Li and D Yang ldquoLowtemperature chemical reaction synthesis of single-crystallineEu(OH)
3nanorods and their thermal conversion to Eu
2O3
nanorodsrdquo Nanotechnology vol 18 no 6 Article ID 0656052007
Figure 4 XRD patterns of the as-synthesized Ln2O3 (a) Eu
2O3 (b) Nd
2O3 and (c) Dy
2O3
Journal of Nanomaterials 5
100nm
(a)
100nm
50nm
(b)
100nm
(c)
25nm
Pores
(d)
100nm
(e)
25nm
Pores
50nm
(f)
Figure 5 TEM images of the as-synthesized Ln2O3 ((a) and (b)) Eu
2O3 ((c) and (d)) Nd
2O3 and ((e) and (f)) Dy
2O3
samples were further investigated by TEM (Figures 5(b) 5(d)and 5(f)) One could see that there exist some defects onthe surface of Eu
2O3nanorods (the insets of Figure 5(b))
In addition the pores on the Ln2O3(Ln = Eu Nd Dy)
nanorods could also be clearly detected as shown in Figures5(b) 5(d) and 5(f) The formation of porous structures isoriginated from the release of water molecular [27]
Figure 6 shows the PL spectrum of Eu2O3nanorods that
were selected as a representative to study the optical propertyof the as-synthesized Ln
2O3nanorods One can find from the
figure that the Eu2O3nanorods exhibit a strong emission peak
around 618 nm which is caused by the forced electric dipoletransition (5D
0ndash7F2) [28] This indicates that the pure cubic
phase Eu2O3has been produced which is consistent with the
XRD result
4 Conclusion
In summary we have successfully synthesized the Ln(OH)3
(Ln = Eu Nd Dy) nanorods via a facile hydrothermalroute assisted by n-butylamine and obtained the corre-sponding porous Ln
2O3nanorods through annealing the
Ln(OH)3nanorodsTheXRDandTEM techniques have been
employed to characterize the hydroxide and oxide nanorodsMoreover the possible formation mechanism of Ln(OH)
3
6 Journal of Nanomaterials
Inte
nsity
(au
)
560 580 600 620 640 660 680
Wavelength (nm)
Figure 6 Luminescence spectrum (excitation at 254 nm) of as-synthesized Eu2O3nanorods at room temperature
nanorods has been proposed The as-synthesized Ln(OH)3
and Ln2O3nanorods are expected to be used in catalysis gas
sensors and other fields in the future
Conflict of Interests
The authors would like to declare that they do not have anycommercial or associative interests that represents a conflictof interest in connection with the submitted paper
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Natural ScienceFoundation of China (Grant nos 11074069 and 61176116)the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program ofHigher Education of China (Grant no 20120161130003) theHunan Provincial Science and Technology Project of China(Grant no 2013FJ4043) and Aid program for Science andTechnology Innovative Research Team inHigher EducationalInstitutions of Hunan Province
References
[1] J T Robinson G S Hong Y Y Liang B Zhang O K Yaghiand H Y Dai ldquoIn vivo fluorescence imaging in the secondnear-infrared window with long circulating carbon nanotubescapable of ultrahigh tumor uptakerdquo Journal of the AmericanChemical Society vol 134 no 25 pp 10664ndash10669 2012
[2] J M Ma Y P Wang Y J Wang Q Chen J B Lian andW J Zheng ldquoControlled synthesis of one-dimensional Sb
2Se3
nanostructures and their Electrochemical propertiesrdquo Journalof Physical Chemistry C vol 113 no 31 pp 13588ndash13592 2009
[3] L F Hu J Yan M Y Liao et al ldquoAn optimized ultraviolet-alight photodetector with wide-range photoresponse based onznszno biaxial nanobeltrdquo Advanced Materials vol 24 no 17pp 2305ndash2309 2012
[4] J M Ma Y PWang Y J Wang et al ldquoOne-dimensional Sb2Se3
[5] J M Ma L Mei Y J Chen et al ldquo120572-Fe2O3nanochains ammo-
nium acetate-based ionothermal synthesis and ultrasensitivesensors for low-ppm-level H
2S gasrdquo Nanoscale vol 5 no 3 pp
895ndash898 2013[6] S La J H Hafner N J Halas S Link and P Nordlander
ldquoNoble metal nanowires from plasmon waveguides to passiveand active devicesrdquo Accounts of Chemical Research vol 45 no11 pp 1887ndash1895 2012
[7] X J Xu X S Fang T Y Zhai et al ldquoTube-in-tube TiO2nan-
otubes with porous walls fabrication formation mechanismand photocatalytic propertiesrdquo Small vol 7 no 4 pp 445ndash4492011
[8] Y Q Qu H L Zhou and X F Duan ldquoPorous siliconnanowiresrdquo Nanoscale vol 3 no 10 pp 4060ndash4068 2011
[9] X L Zhang F Y Cheng J G Yang and J ChenldquoLiNi
05Mn15O4
Porous nanorods as high-rate and long-life cathodes for Li-ion batteriesrdquo Nano Letters vol 13 no 6pp 2822ndash2825 2013
[10] J M Ma J Teo L Mei Z et al ldquoPorous platelike hematitemesocrystals synthesis catalytic and gas-sensing applicationsrdquoJournal of Materials Chemistry vol 22 no 23 pp 11694ndash117002012
[11] J MMa J Zhang S RWang et al ldquoTopochemical preparationof WO
3nanoplates through precursor H
2WO4and their gas-
sensing performancesrdquo Journal of Physical Chemistry C vol 115no 37 pp 18157ndash18163 2011
[12] J M Ma J Zhang S R Wang et al ldquoSuperior gas-sensing andlithium-storage performance SnO
2nanocrystals synthesized
by hydrothermal methodrdquo CrystEngComm vol 13 no 20 pp6077ndash6081 2011
[13] J M Ma X C Duan J B Lian et al ldquoSb2S3with various
[14] G S Wu L D Zhang B C Cheng T Xie and X Y YuanldquoSynthesis of Eu
2O3nanotube arrays through a facile Sol-Gel
template approachrdquo Journal of the American Chemical Societyvol 126 no 19 pp 5976ndash5977 2004
[15] F Cui J Zhang T Cui et al ldquoA facile solution-phaseapproach to the synthesis of luminescent europium methacry-late nanowires and their thermal conversion into europium
Journal of Nanomaterials 7
oxide nanotubesrdquo Nanotechnology vol 19 no 6 Article ID065607 2008
[16] J M Li X L Zeng Y H Dong and Z A Xu ldquoWhite-lightemission and weak antiferromagnetism from cubic rare-earthoxide Eu
15 no 13 pp 2372ndash2377 2013[17] C R Michel A H Martinez-Preciado and N L L Contr-
eras ldquoGas sensing properties of Nd2O3nanostructured micro-
spheresrdquo Sensor vol 184 pp 8ndash14 2013[18] B Umesh B Eraiah H Nagabhushana et al ldquoSynthesis
and characterization of spherical and rod like nanocrystallineNd2O3phosphorsrdquo Journal of Alloys and Compounds vol 509
no 4 pp 1146ndash1151 2011[19] M Chandrasekhar D V Sunitha N Dhananjaya et al ldquoTher-
moluminescence response in gamma and UV irradiated Dy2O3
nanophosphorrdquo Journal of Luminescence vol 132 no 7 pp1798ndash1806 2013
[20] M Norek E Kampert U Zeitler and J A Peters ldquoTuning ofthe size of Dy
2O3nanoparticles for optimal performance as an
MRI contrast agentrdquo Journal of the American Chemical Societyvol 130 no 15 pp 5335ndash5340 2008
[21] L X Zhang Y X Sun H F Jiu Y H Fu Y Z Wang and J YZhang ldquoSolvothermal synthesis of hollow Eu
2O3microspheres
using carbon template-assisted methodrdquo Chemical Papers vol66 no 8 pp 741ndash747 2012
[22] P Zhang Y Zhao T Zhai et al ldquoPreparation and magneticproperties of polycrystalline Eu
2O3microwiresrdquo Journal of the
Electrochemical Society vol 159 no 4 pp D204ndashD207 2012[23] J M Ma D N Lei X C Duan et al ldquoDesignable fabrication
of flower-like SnS2aggregates with excellent performance in
lithium-ion batteriesrdquoRSCAdvances vol 2 no 9 pp 3615ndash36172012
[24] JMMa DN Lei LMei et al ldquoPlate-like SnS2nanostructures
hydrothermal preparation growth mechanism and excellentelectrochemical propertiesrdquo CrystEngComm vol 14 no 3 pp832ndash836 2012
[25] S Y Liu Y Cai X Y Cai et al ldquoCatalytic photodegradation ofCongo red in aqueous solution by Ln(OH)
3(Ln =Nd Sm Eu
Gd Tb and Dy) nanorodsrdquo Applied Catalysis A vol 453 pp45ndash53 2013
[26] M P Rosynek andD TMagnuson ldquoPreparation and character-ization of catalytic lanthanum oxiderdquo Journal of Catalysis vol46 no 3 pp 402ndash413 1977
[27] J M Ma J Q Yang L F Jiao et al ldquoNiO nanomaterials con-trolled fabrication formationmechanism and the application inlithium-ion batteryrdquoCrystEngComm vol 14 no 2 pp 453ndash4592012
[28] N Du H Zhang B Chen J Wu D Li and D Yang ldquoLowtemperature chemical reaction synthesis of single-crystallineEu(OH)
3nanorods and their thermal conversion to Eu
2O3
nanorodsrdquo Nanotechnology vol 18 no 6 Article ID 0656052007
Figure 4 XRD patterns of the as-synthesized Ln2O3 (a) Eu
2O3 (b) Nd
2O3 and (c) Dy
2O3
Journal of Nanomaterials 5
100nm
(a)
100nm
50nm
(b)
100nm
(c)
25nm
Pores
(d)
100nm
(e)
25nm
Pores
50nm
(f)
Figure 5 TEM images of the as-synthesized Ln2O3 ((a) and (b)) Eu
2O3 ((c) and (d)) Nd
2O3 and ((e) and (f)) Dy
2O3
samples were further investigated by TEM (Figures 5(b) 5(d)and 5(f)) One could see that there exist some defects onthe surface of Eu
2O3nanorods (the insets of Figure 5(b))
In addition the pores on the Ln2O3(Ln = Eu Nd Dy)
nanorods could also be clearly detected as shown in Figures5(b) 5(d) and 5(f) The formation of porous structures isoriginated from the release of water molecular [27]
Figure 6 shows the PL spectrum of Eu2O3nanorods that
were selected as a representative to study the optical propertyof the as-synthesized Ln
2O3nanorods One can find from the
figure that the Eu2O3nanorods exhibit a strong emission peak
around 618 nm which is caused by the forced electric dipoletransition (5D
0ndash7F2) [28] This indicates that the pure cubic
phase Eu2O3has been produced which is consistent with the
XRD result
4 Conclusion
In summary we have successfully synthesized the Ln(OH)3
(Ln = Eu Nd Dy) nanorods via a facile hydrothermalroute assisted by n-butylamine and obtained the corre-sponding porous Ln
2O3nanorods through annealing the
Ln(OH)3nanorodsTheXRDandTEM techniques have been
employed to characterize the hydroxide and oxide nanorodsMoreover the possible formation mechanism of Ln(OH)
3
6 Journal of Nanomaterials
Inte
nsity
(au
)
560 580 600 620 640 660 680
Wavelength (nm)
Figure 6 Luminescence spectrum (excitation at 254 nm) of as-synthesized Eu2O3nanorods at room temperature
nanorods has been proposed The as-synthesized Ln(OH)3
and Ln2O3nanorods are expected to be used in catalysis gas
sensors and other fields in the future
Conflict of Interests
The authors would like to declare that they do not have anycommercial or associative interests that represents a conflictof interest in connection with the submitted paper
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Natural ScienceFoundation of China (Grant nos 11074069 and 61176116)the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program ofHigher Education of China (Grant no 20120161130003) theHunan Provincial Science and Technology Project of China(Grant no 2013FJ4043) and Aid program for Science andTechnology Innovative Research Team inHigher EducationalInstitutions of Hunan Province
References
[1] J T Robinson G S Hong Y Y Liang B Zhang O K Yaghiand H Y Dai ldquoIn vivo fluorescence imaging in the secondnear-infrared window with long circulating carbon nanotubescapable of ultrahigh tumor uptakerdquo Journal of the AmericanChemical Society vol 134 no 25 pp 10664ndash10669 2012
[2] J M Ma Y P Wang Y J Wang Q Chen J B Lian andW J Zheng ldquoControlled synthesis of one-dimensional Sb
2Se3
nanostructures and their Electrochemical propertiesrdquo Journalof Physical Chemistry C vol 113 no 31 pp 13588ndash13592 2009
[3] L F Hu J Yan M Y Liao et al ldquoAn optimized ultraviolet-alight photodetector with wide-range photoresponse based onznszno biaxial nanobeltrdquo Advanced Materials vol 24 no 17pp 2305ndash2309 2012
[4] J M Ma Y PWang Y J Wang et al ldquoOne-dimensional Sb2Se3
[5] J M Ma L Mei Y J Chen et al ldquo120572-Fe2O3nanochains ammo-
nium acetate-based ionothermal synthesis and ultrasensitivesensors for low-ppm-level H
2S gasrdquo Nanoscale vol 5 no 3 pp
895ndash898 2013[6] S La J H Hafner N J Halas S Link and P Nordlander
ldquoNoble metal nanowires from plasmon waveguides to passiveand active devicesrdquo Accounts of Chemical Research vol 45 no11 pp 1887ndash1895 2012
[7] X J Xu X S Fang T Y Zhai et al ldquoTube-in-tube TiO2nan-
otubes with porous walls fabrication formation mechanismand photocatalytic propertiesrdquo Small vol 7 no 4 pp 445ndash4492011
[8] Y Q Qu H L Zhou and X F Duan ldquoPorous siliconnanowiresrdquo Nanoscale vol 3 no 10 pp 4060ndash4068 2011
[9] X L Zhang F Y Cheng J G Yang and J ChenldquoLiNi
05Mn15O4
Porous nanorods as high-rate and long-life cathodes for Li-ion batteriesrdquo Nano Letters vol 13 no 6pp 2822ndash2825 2013
[10] J M Ma J Teo L Mei Z et al ldquoPorous platelike hematitemesocrystals synthesis catalytic and gas-sensing applicationsrdquoJournal of Materials Chemistry vol 22 no 23 pp 11694ndash117002012
[11] J MMa J Zhang S RWang et al ldquoTopochemical preparationof WO
3nanoplates through precursor H
2WO4and their gas-
sensing performancesrdquo Journal of Physical Chemistry C vol 115no 37 pp 18157ndash18163 2011
[12] J M Ma J Zhang S R Wang et al ldquoSuperior gas-sensing andlithium-storage performance SnO
2nanocrystals synthesized
by hydrothermal methodrdquo CrystEngComm vol 13 no 20 pp6077ndash6081 2011
[13] J M Ma X C Duan J B Lian et al ldquoSb2S3with various
[14] G S Wu L D Zhang B C Cheng T Xie and X Y YuanldquoSynthesis of Eu
2O3nanotube arrays through a facile Sol-Gel
template approachrdquo Journal of the American Chemical Societyvol 126 no 19 pp 5976ndash5977 2004
[15] F Cui J Zhang T Cui et al ldquoA facile solution-phaseapproach to the synthesis of luminescent europium methacry-late nanowires and their thermal conversion into europium
Journal of Nanomaterials 7
oxide nanotubesrdquo Nanotechnology vol 19 no 6 Article ID065607 2008
[16] J M Li X L Zeng Y H Dong and Z A Xu ldquoWhite-lightemission and weak antiferromagnetism from cubic rare-earthoxide Eu
15 no 13 pp 2372ndash2377 2013[17] C R Michel A H Martinez-Preciado and N L L Contr-
eras ldquoGas sensing properties of Nd2O3nanostructured micro-
spheresrdquo Sensor vol 184 pp 8ndash14 2013[18] B Umesh B Eraiah H Nagabhushana et al ldquoSynthesis
and characterization of spherical and rod like nanocrystallineNd2O3phosphorsrdquo Journal of Alloys and Compounds vol 509
no 4 pp 1146ndash1151 2011[19] M Chandrasekhar D V Sunitha N Dhananjaya et al ldquoTher-
moluminescence response in gamma and UV irradiated Dy2O3
nanophosphorrdquo Journal of Luminescence vol 132 no 7 pp1798ndash1806 2013
[20] M Norek E Kampert U Zeitler and J A Peters ldquoTuning ofthe size of Dy
2O3nanoparticles for optimal performance as an
MRI contrast agentrdquo Journal of the American Chemical Societyvol 130 no 15 pp 5335ndash5340 2008
[21] L X Zhang Y X Sun H F Jiu Y H Fu Y Z Wang and J YZhang ldquoSolvothermal synthesis of hollow Eu
2O3microspheres
using carbon template-assisted methodrdquo Chemical Papers vol66 no 8 pp 741ndash747 2012
[22] P Zhang Y Zhao T Zhai et al ldquoPreparation and magneticproperties of polycrystalline Eu
2O3microwiresrdquo Journal of the
Electrochemical Society vol 159 no 4 pp D204ndashD207 2012[23] J M Ma D N Lei X C Duan et al ldquoDesignable fabrication
of flower-like SnS2aggregates with excellent performance in
lithium-ion batteriesrdquoRSCAdvances vol 2 no 9 pp 3615ndash36172012
[24] JMMa DN Lei LMei et al ldquoPlate-like SnS2nanostructures
hydrothermal preparation growth mechanism and excellentelectrochemical propertiesrdquo CrystEngComm vol 14 no 3 pp832ndash836 2012
[25] S Y Liu Y Cai X Y Cai et al ldquoCatalytic photodegradation ofCongo red in aqueous solution by Ln(OH)
3(Ln =Nd Sm Eu
Gd Tb and Dy) nanorodsrdquo Applied Catalysis A vol 453 pp45ndash53 2013
[26] M P Rosynek andD TMagnuson ldquoPreparation and character-ization of catalytic lanthanum oxiderdquo Journal of Catalysis vol46 no 3 pp 402ndash413 1977
[27] J M Ma J Q Yang L F Jiao et al ldquoNiO nanomaterials con-trolled fabrication formationmechanism and the application inlithium-ion batteryrdquoCrystEngComm vol 14 no 2 pp 453ndash4592012
[28] N Du H Zhang B Chen J Wu D Li and D Yang ldquoLowtemperature chemical reaction synthesis of single-crystallineEu(OH)
3nanorods and their thermal conversion to Eu
2O3
nanorodsrdquo Nanotechnology vol 18 no 6 Article ID 0656052007
Figure 5 TEM images of the as-synthesized Ln2O3 ((a) and (b)) Eu
2O3 ((c) and (d)) Nd
2O3 and ((e) and (f)) Dy
2O3
samples were further investigated by TEM (Figures 5(b) 5(d)and 5(f)) One could see that there exist some defects onthe surface of Eu
2O3nanorods (the insets of Figure 5(b))
In addition the pores on the Ln2O3(Ln = Eu Nd Dy)
nanorods could also be clearly detected as shown in Figures5(b) 5(d) and 5(f) The formation of porous structures isoriginated from the release of water molecular [27]
Figure 6 shows the PL spectrum of Eu2O3nanorods that
were selected as a representative to study the optical propertyof the as-synthesized Ln
2O3nanorods One can find from the
figure that the Eu2O3nanorods exhibit a strong emission peak
around 618 nm which is caused by the forced electric dipoletransition (5D
0ndash7F2) [28] This indicates that the pure cubic
phase Eu2O3has been produced which is consistent with the
XRD result
4 Conclusion
In summary we have successfully synthesized the Ln(OH)3
(Ln = Eu Nd Dy) nanorods via a facile hydrothermalroute assisted by n-butylamine and obtained the corre-sponding porous Ln
2O3nanorods through annealing the
Ln(OH)3nanorodsTheXRDandTEM techniques have been
employed to characterize the hydroxide and oxide nanorodsMoreover the possible formation mechanism of Ln(OH)
3
6 Journal of Nanomaterials
Inte
nsity
(au
)
560 580 600 620 640 660 680
Wavelength (nm)
Figure 6 Luminescence spectrum (excitation at 254 nm) of as-synthesized Eu2O3nanorods at room temperature
nanorods has been proposed The as-synthesized Ln(OH)3
and Ln2O3nanorods are expected to be used in catalysis gas
sensors and other fields in the future
Conflict of Interests
The authors would like to declare that they do not have anycommercial or associative interests that represents a conflictof interest in connection with the submitted paper
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Natural ScienceFoundation of China (Grant nos 11074069 and 61176116)the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program ofHigher Education of China (Grant no 20120161130003) theHunan Provincial Science and Technology Project of China(Grant no 2013FJ4043) and Aid program for Science andTechnology Innovative Research Team inHigher EducationalInstitutions of Hunan Province
References
[1] J T Robinson G S Hong Y Y Liang B Zhang O K Yaghiand H Y Dai ldquoIn vivo fluorescence imaging in the secondnear-infrared window with long circulating carbon nanotubescapable of ultrahigh tumor uptakerdquo Journal of the AmericanChemical Society vol 134 no 25 pp 10664ndash10669 2012
[2] J M Ma Y P Wang Y J Wang Q Chen J B Lian andW J Zheng ldquoControlled synthesis of one-dimensional Sb
2Se3
nanostructures and their Electrochemical propertiesrdquo Journalof Physical Chemistry C vol 113 no 31 pp 13588ndash13592 2009
[3] L F Hu J Yan M Y Liao et al ldquoAn optimized ultraviolet-alight photodetector with wide-range photoresponse based onznszno biaxial nanobeltrdquo Advanced Materials vol 24 no 17pp 2305ndash2309 2012
[4] J M Ma Y PWang Y J Wang et al ldquoOne-dimensional Sb2Se3
[5] J M Ma L Mei Y J Chen et al ldquo120572-Fe2O3nanochains ammo-
nium acetate-based ionothermal synthesis and ultrasensitivesensors for low-ppm-level H
2S gasrdquo Nanoscale vol 5 no 3 pp
895ndash898 2013[6] S La J H Hafner N J Halas S Link and P Nordlander
ldquoNoble metal nanowires from plasmon waveguides to passiveand active devicesrdquo Accounts of Chemical Research vol 45 no11 pp 1887ndash1895 2012
[7] X J Xu X S Fang T Y Zhai et al ldquoTube-in-tube TiO2nan-
otubes with porous walls fabrication formation mechanismand photocatalytic propertiesrdquo Small vol 7 no 4 pp 445ndash4492011
[8] Y Q Qu H L Zhou and X F Duan ldquoPorous siliconnanowiresrdquo Nanoscale vol 3 no 10 pp 4060ndash4068 2011
[9] X L Zhang F Y Cheng J G Yang and J ChenldquoLiNi
05Mn15O4
Porous nanorods as high-rate and long-life cathodes for Li-ion batteriesrdquo Nano Letters vol 13 no 6pp 2822ndash2825 2013
[10] J M Ma J Teo L Mei Z et al ldquoPorous platelike hematitemesocrystals synthesis catalytic and gas-sensing applicationsrdquoJournal of Materials Chemistry vol 22 no 23 pp 11694ndash117002012
[11] J MMa J Zhang S RWang et al ldquoTopochemical preparationof WO
3nanoplates through precursor H
2WO4and their gas-
sensing performancesrdquo Journal of Physical Chemistry C vol 115no 37 pp 18157ndash18163 2011
[12] J M Ma J Zhang S R Wang et al ldquoSuperior gas-sensing andlithium-storage performance SnO
2nanocrystals synthesized
by hydrothermal methodrdquo CrystEngComm vol 13 no 20 pp6077ndash6081 2011
[13] J M Ma X C Duan J B Lian et al ldquoSb2S3with various
[14] G S Wu L D Zhang B C Cheng T Xie and X Y YuanldquoSynthesis of Eu
2O3nanotube arrays through a facile Sol-Gel
template approachrdquo Journal of the American Chemical Societyvol 126 no 19 pp 5976ndash5977 2004
[15] F Cui J Zhang T Cui et al ldquoA facile solution-phaseapproach to the synthesis of luminescent europium methacry-late nanowires and their thermal conversion into europium
Journal of Nanomaterials 7
oxide nanotubesrdquo Nanotechnology vol 19 no 6 Article ID065607 2008
[16] J M Li X L Zeng Y H Dong and Z A Xu ldquoWhite-lightemission and weak antiferromagnetism from cubic rare-earthoxide Eu
15 no 13 pp 2372ndash2377 2013[17] C R Michel A H Martinez-Preciado and N L L Contr-
eras ldquoGas sensing properties of Nd2O3nanostructured micro-
spheresrdquo Sensor vol 184 pp 8ndash14 2013[18] B Umesh B Eraiah H Nagabhushana et al ldquoSynthesis
and characterization of spherical and rod like nanocrystallineNd2O3phosphorsrdquo Journal of Alloys and Compounds vol 509
no 4 pp 1146ndash1151 2011[19] M Chandrasekhar D V Sunitha N Dhananjaya et al ldquoTher-
moluminescence response in gamma and UV irradiated Dy2O3
nanophosphorrdquo Journal of Luminescence vol 132 no 7 pp1798ndash1806 2013
[20] M Norek E Kampert U Zeitler and J A Peters ldquoTuning ofthe size of Dy
2O3nanoparticles for optimal performance as an
MRI contrast agentrdquo Journal of the American Chemical Societyvol 130 no 15 pp 5335ndash5340 2008
[21] L X Zhang Y X Sun H F Jiu Y H Fu Y Z Wang and J YZhang ldquoSolvothermal synthesis of hollow Eu
2O3microspheres
using carbon template-assisted methodrdquo Chemical Papers vol66 no 8 pp 741ndash747 2012
[22] P Zhang Y Zhao T Zhai et al ldquoPreparation and magneticproperties of polycrystalline Eu
2O3microwiresrdquo Journal of the
Electrochemical Society vol 159 no 4 pp D204ndashD207 2012[23] J M Ma D N Lei X C Duan et al ldquoDesignable fabrication
of flower-like SnS2aggregates with excellent performance in
lithium-ion batteriesrdquoRSCAdvances vol 2 no 9 pp 3615ndash36172012
[24] JMMa DN Lei LMei et al ldquoPlate-like SnS2nanostructures
hydrothermal preparation growth mechanism and excellentelectrochemical propertiesrdquo CrystEngComm vol 14 no 3 pp832ndash836 2012
[25] S Y Liu Y Cai X Y Cai et al ldquoCatalytic photodegradation ofCongo red in aqueous solution by Ln(OH)
3(Ln =Nd Sm Eu
Gd Tb and Dy) nanorodsrdquo Applied Catalysis A vol 453 pp45ndash53 2013
[26] M P Rosynek andD TMagnuson ldquoPreparation and character-ization of catalytic lanthanum oxiderdquo Journal of Catalysis vol46 no 3 pp 402ndash413 1977
[27] J M Ma J Q Yang L F Jiao et al ldquoNiO nanomaterials con-trolled fabrication formationmechanism and the application inlithium-ion batteryrdquoCrystEngComm vol 14 no 2 pp 453ndash4592012
[28] N Du H Zhang B Chen J Wu D Li and D Yang ldquoLowtemperature chemical reaction synthesis of single-crystallineEu(OH)
3nanorods and their thermal conversion to Eu
2O3
nanorodsrdquo Nanotechnology vol 18 no 6 Article ID 0656052007
Figure 6 Luminescence spectrum (excitation at 254 nm) of as-synthesized Eu2O3nanorods at room temperature
nanorods has been proposed The as-synthesized Ln(OH)3
and Ln2O3nanorods are expected to be used in catalysis gas
sensors and other fields in the future
Conflict of Interests
The authors would like to declare that they do not have anycommercial or associative interests that represents a conflictof interest in connection with the submitted paper
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Natural ScienceFoundation of China (Grant nos 11074069 and 61176116)the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program ofHigher Education of China (Grant no 20120161130003) theHunan Provincial Science and Technology Project of China(Grant no 2013FJ4043) and Aid program for Science andTechnology Innovative Research Team inHigher EducationalInstitutions of Hunan Province
References
[1] J T Robinson G S Hong Y Y Liang B Zhang O K Yaghiand H Y Dai ldquoIn vivo fluorescence imaging in the secondnear-infrared window with long circulating carbon nanotubescapable of ultrahigh tumor uptakerdquo Journal of the AmericanChemical Society vol 134 no 25 pp 10664ndash10669 2012
[2] J M Ma Y P Wang Y J Wang Q Chen J B Lian andW J Zheng ldquoControlled synthesis of one-dimensional Sb
2Se3
nanostructures and their Electrochemical propertiesrdquo Journalof Physical Chemistry C vol 113 no 31 pp 13588ndash13592 2009
[3] L F Hu J Yan M Y Liao et al ldquoAn optimized ultraviolet-alight photodetector with wide-range photoresponse based onznszno biaxial nanobeltrdquo Advanced Materials vol 24 no 17pp 2305ndash2309 2012
[4] J M Ma Y PWang Y J Wang et al ldquoOne-dimensional Sb2Se3
[5] J M Ma L Mei Y J Chen et al ldquo120572-Fe2O3nanochains ammo-
nium acetate-based ionothermal synthesis and ultrasensitivesensors for low-ppm-level H
2S gasrdquo Nanoscale vol 5 no 3 pp
895ndash898 2013[6] S La J H Hafner N J Halas S Link and P Nordlander
ldquoNoble metal nanowires from plasmon waveguides to passiveand active devicesrdquo Accounts of Chemical Research vol 45 no11 pp 1887ndash1895 2012
[7] X J Xu X S Fang T Y Zhai et al ldquoTube-in-tube TiO2nan-
otubes with porous walls fabrication formation mechanismand photocatalytic propertiesrdquo Small vol 7 no 4 pp 445ndash4492011
[8] Y Q Qu H L Zhou and X F Duan ldquoPorous siliconnanowiresrdquo Nanoscale vol 3 no 10 pp 4060ndash4068 2011
[9] X L Zhang F Y Cheng J G Yang and J ChenldquoLiNi
05Mn15O4
Porous nanorods as high-rate and long-life cathodes for Li-ion batteriesrdquo Nano Letters vol 13 no 6pp 2822ndash2825 2013
[10] J M Ma J Teo L Mei Z et al ldquoPorous platelike hematitemesocrystals synthesis catalytic and gas-sensing applicationsrdquoJournal of Materials Chemistry vol 22 no 23 pp 11694ndash117002012
[11] J MMa J Zhang S RWang et al ldquoTopochemical preparationof WO
3nanoplates through precursor H
2WO4and their gas-
sensing performancesrdquo Journal of Physical Chemistry C vol 115no 37 pp 18157ndash18163 2011
[12] J M Ma J Zhang S R Wang et al ldquoSuperior gas-sensing andlithium-storage performance SnO
2nanocrystals synthesized
by hydrothermal methodrdquo CrystEngComm vol 13 no 20 pp6077ndash6081 2011
[13] J M Ma X C Duan J B Lian et al ldquoSb2S3with various
[14] G S Wu L D Zhang B C Cheng T Xie and X Y YuanldquoSynthesis of Eu
2O3nanotube arrays through a facile Sol-Gel
template approachrdquo Journal of the American Chemical Societyvol 126 no 19 pp 5976ndash5977 2004
[15] F Cui J Zhang T Cui et al ldquoA facile solution-phaseapproach to the synthesis of luminescent europium methacry-late nanowires and their thermal conversion into europium
Journal of Nanomaterials 7
oxide nanotubesrdquo Nanotechnology vol 19 no 6 Article ID065607 2008
[16] J M Li X L Zeng Y H Dong and Z A Xu ldquoWhite-lightemission and weak antiferromagnetism from cubic rare-earthoxide Eu
15 no 13 pp 2372ndash2377 2013[17] C R Michel A H Martinez-Preciado and N L L Contr-
eras ldquoGas sensing properties of Nd2O3nanostructured micro-
spheresrdquo Sensor vol 184 pp 8ndash14 2013[18] B Umesh B Eraiah H Nagabhushana et al ldquoSynthesis
and characterization of spherical and rod like nanocrystallineNd2O3phosphorsrdquo Journal of Alloys and Compounds vol 509
no 4 pp 1146ndash1151 2011[19] M Chandrasekhar D V Sunitha N Dhananjaya et al ldquoTher-
moluminescence response in gamma and UV irradiated Dy2O3
nanophosphorrdquo Journal of Luminescence vol 132 no 7 pp1798ndash1806 2013
[20] M Norek E Kampert U Zeitler and J A Peters ldquoTuning ofthe size of Dy
2O3nanoparticles for optimal performance as an
MRI contrast agentrdquo Journal of the American Chemical Societyvol 130 no 15 pp 5335ndash5340 2008
[21] L X Zhang Y X Sun H F Jiu Y H Fu Y Z Wang and J YZhang ldquoSolvothermal synthesis of hollow Eu
2O3microspheres
using carbon template-assisted methodrdquo Chemical Papers vol66 no 8 pp 741ndash747 2012
[22] P Zhang Y Zhao T Zhai et al ldquoPreparation and magneticproperties of polycrystalline Eu
2O3microwiresrdquo Journal of the
Electrochemical Society vol 159 no 4 pp D204ndashD207 2012[23] J M Ma D N Lei X C Duan et al ldquoDesignable fabrication
of flower-like SnS2aggregates with excellent performance in
lithium-ion batteriesrdquoRSCAdvances vol 2 no 9 pp 3615ndash36172012
[24] JMMa DN Lei LMei et al ldquoPlate-like SnS2nanostructures
hydrothermal preparation growth mechanism and excellentelectrochemical propertiesrdquo CrystEngComm vol 14 no 3 pp832ndash836 2012
[25] S Y Liu Y Cai X Y Cai et al ldquoCatalytic photodegradation ofCongo red in aqueous solution by Ln(OH)
3(Ln =Nd Sm Eu
Gd Tb and Dy) nanorodsrdquo Applied Catalysis A vol 453 pp45ndash53 2013
[26] M P Rosynek andD TMagnuson ldquoPreparation and character-ization of catalytic lanthanum oxiderdquo Journal of Catalysis vol46 no 3 pp 402ndash413 1977
[27] J M Ma J Q Yang L F Jiao et al ldquoNiO nanomaterials con-trolled fabrication formationmechanism and the application inlithium-ion batteryrdquoCrystEngComm vol 14 no 2 pp 453ndash4592012
[28] N Du H Zhang B Chen J Wu D Li and D Yang ldquoLowtemperature chemical reaction synthesis of single-crystallineEu(OH)
3nanorods and their thermal conversion to Eu
2O3
nanorodsrdquo Nanotechnology vol 18 no 6 Article ID 0656052007
15 no 13 pp 2372ndash2377 2013[17] C R Michel A H Martinez-Preciado and N L L Contr-
eras ldquoGas sensing properties of Nd2O3nanostructured micro-
spheresrdquo Sensor vol 184 pp 8ndash14 2013[18] B Umesh B Eraiah H Nagabhushana et al ldquoSynthesis
and characterization of spherical and rod like nanocrystallineNd2O3phosphorsrdquo Journal of Alloys and Compounds vol 509
no 4 pp 1146ndash1151 2011[19] M Chandrasekhar D V Sunitha N Dhananjaya et al ldquoTher-
moluminescence response in gamma and UV irradiated Dy2O3
nanophosphorrdquo Journal of Luminescence vol 132 no 7 pp1798ndash1806 2013
[20] M Norek E Kampert U Zeitler and J A Peters ldquoTuning ofthe size of Dy
2O3nanoparticles for optimal performance as an
MRI contrast agentrdquo Journal of the American Chemical Societyvol 130 no 15 pp 5335ndash5340 2008
[21] L X Zhang Y X Sun H F Jiu Y H Fu Y Z Wang and J YZhang ldquoSolvothermal synthesis of hollow Eu
2O3microspheres
using carbon template-assisted methodrdquo Chemical Papers vol66 no 8 pp 741ndash747 2012
[22] P Zhang Y Zhao T Zhai et al ldquoPreparation and magneticproperties of polycrystalline Eu
2O3microwiresrdquo Journal of the
Electrochemical Society vol 159 no 4 pp D204ndashD207 2012[23] J M Ma D N Lei X C Duan et al ldquoDesignable fabrication
of flower-like SnS2aggregates with excellent performance in
lithium-ion batteriesrdquoRSCAdvances vol 2 no 9 pp 3615ndash36172012
[24] JMMa DN Lei LMei et al ldquoPlate-like SnS2nanostructures
hydrothermal preparation growth mechanism and excellentelectrochemical propertiesrdquo CrystEngComm vol 14 no 3 pp832ndash836 2012
[25] S Y Liu Y Cai X Y Cai et al ldquoCatalytic photodegradation ofCongo red in aqueous solution by Ln(OH)
3(Ln =Nd Sm Eu
Gd Tb and Dy) nanorodsrdquo Applied Catalysis A vol 453 pp45ndash53 2013
[26] M P Rosynek andD TMagnuson ldquoPreparation and character-ization of catalytic lanthanum oxiderdquo Journal of Catalysis vol46 no 3 pp 402ndash413 1977
[27] J M Ma J Q Yang L F Jiao et al ldquoNiO nanomaterials con-trolled fabrication formationmechanism and the application inlithium-ion batteryrdquoCrystEngComm vol 14 no 2 pp 453ndash4592012
[28] N Du H Zhang B Chen J Wu D Li and D Yang ldquoLowtemperature chemical reaction synthesis of single-crystallineEu(OH)
3nanorods and their thermal conversion to Eu
2O3
nanorodsrdquo Nanotechnology vol 18 no 6 Article ID 0656052007
