Low-temperature hydrothermal synthesis and structure control of nano-sized CePO4

The nanostructured CePO4 with hexagonal and monoclinic phases were controllably synthesized through a hydrothermal route at a low temperature of 100 degrees C by simply varying the reactant PO4/Ce molar ratio. By analyzing the synthesis procedure and product structures, the formation mechanism of the CePO4 nanostructures was proposed. The luminescent properties of CePO4 with different structures and morphologies have been studied and compared. The obvious blue shift of the strongest excitation peak of the monoclinic CePO4 compared with the hexagonal CePO4 could be observed in their luminescence spectra. With the cycling use of phosphoric acid, the low-cost preparation of CePO4 could be achieved. Furthermore, this synthesis strategy will open a novel approach to rare earth phosphates with multiple structures.