The fabrication of La(OH)3 nanospheres by a controllable-hydrothermal method with citric acid as a protective agent

La(OH)(3) nanospheres have been synthesized with La(NO3)(3) and KOH as the starting materials and citric acid as a protective agent through a facile controllable hydrothermal method. The obtained products were analysed with x-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The formation mechanism of the La(OH)(3) nanospheres was investigated in detail.