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Decomposition Study of Praseodymium Oxalate as a Precursor for Praseodymium Oxide in the Microwave Field
journal contribution
posted on 2020-08-21, 20:13 authored by Peng Lv, Liangjing Zhang, Sivasankar Koppala, Kaihua Chen, Yuan He, Shiwei Li, Shaohua YinMicron-sized praseodymium oxide powders
are prepared successfully
from the praseodymium oxalate in a microwave field at 750 °C
for 2 h in the present study. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis demonstrates
that the presence of cubic structured crystalline Pr6O11 and complete decomposition of the precursor are confirmed
by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) analysis. The scanning electron
microscopy (SEM) results show yield powders with the desired particle
size and uniform morphologies. Particle size analysis demonstrates
that the median diameter (D50) becomes
stable at 750 °C. The D50, average
surface area, pore diameter, and pore volume calculated by Brunauer
−Emmett–Teller (BET) are 4.32 μm, 6.628 m2/g, 1.86 nm, and 0.026 cm3/g at 750 °C for
2 h, respectively. Moreover, loss on ignition (L.O.I.) analysis indicates
that the L.O.I. is as low as 0.39%, meeting the enterprise requirement
(<1%). In comparison, conventional calcination experiments are
carried out in the electric furnace. Both XRD and FT-IR analyses are
in consistence with thermogravimetry–differential scanning
calorimetry, which indicates that the temperature required for the
decomposition of praseodymium oxalate hydrate is higher than that
of microwave heating. Furthermore, SEM, particle size distribution,
and BET analysis indicate that agglomeration generates, particle size
enlarges, and average surface area increases. In all, it is confirmed
that preparing rare-earth oxides from rare-earth oxalates is feasible
using microwave heating to replace conventional heating.