Synthesis of crystalline yttrium oxycarbonate in a single phase

Crystalline yttrium oxycarbonate, Y2O2CO3, was synthesized by our original flux method using the 0.476Li2CO3–0.270Na2CO3–0.254K2CO3 eutectic mixture at 450 °C. The oxycarbonate was characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and Fourier-transfer infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The Y2O2CO3 prepared by the flux method was a crystalline single phase of hexagonal rare earth oxycarbonate (type-II). This is the first report on the single-phase synthesis of crystalline hexagonal type-II Y2O2CO3.