Sonochemical synthesis of Dy2(CO3)3 nanoparticles, Dy(OH)3 nanotubes and their conversion to Dy2O3 nanoparticles

Dysprosium carbonates nanoparticles were synthesized by the reaction of dysprosium acetate and NaHCO3 by a sonochemical method. Dysprosium oxide nanoparticles with average size about 17 nm were prepared from calcination of Dy2(CO3)3·1.7H2O nanoparticles. Dy(OH)3 nanotubes were synthesized by sonication of Dy(OAC)3·6H2O and N2H4. The as-synthesized nanostructures were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Photoluminescence measurement shows that the nanoparticles have two emission peaks around 17,540 cm−1 and 20,700 cm−1, which should come from the electron transition from 4F9/2 → 6H15/2 levels and 4F9/2 → 6H13/2 levels, respectively. The effect of calcination temperature and sonication time was investigated on the morphology and particle size of the products. The sizes could be controlled by the feeding rate of the precipitating agent (NaHCO3 and N2H4) and slower feeding rate lead to smaller nanoparticles.