THE PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF HYDROXYCARBONATE COLLOIDAL PARTICLES OF INDIVIDUAL AND MIXED RARE-EARTH ELEMENTS

The wide use of the rare earth elements in the preparation of technically important materials requires a wide range of preparative techniques. In this paper the preparation of colloidal spheres and other shapes is outlined. Homogeneous precipitation of rare earth hydroxycarbonate colloidal particles was carried out under different conditions of temperature and pH. The morphology of the products was studied by scanning electron microscopy. Mixed praseodymium and neodymium salts were precipitated as amorphous spheres with atomic-level mixing to demonstrate the value of the method to produce homogeneous mixtures.