Structural, electronic and optical properties of BaRE(GeO)(GeO) (RE = Tm, Yb, Lu) compounds and BaYb(GeO)(GeO):Tm and BaLu(GeO)(GeO):Yb,Tm phosphors: potential applications in temperature sensing.

A new series of BaRE(GeO)(GeO) (RE = Tm, Yb, Lu) germanates and activated phases BaYb(GeO)(GeO):Tm and BaLu(GeO)(GeO):12Yb,Tm have been prepared using a solid-state reaction. An XRPD study has revealed that the compounds crystallize in the monoclinic system (space group 2/, = 2). The crystal lattice consists of zigzag chains of edge-sharing distorted REO octahedra, bowed trigermanate [GeO] units, [GeO] groups, and eight-coordinated Ba atoms.

Coagulation removal of nickel (II) ions by ferric chloride: Efficiency and mechanism.

Removal of heavy metal ions, in particular, divalent nickel ions from natural and wastewater, is of great importance for the environment. Nickel (II) ions are very toxic and provoke many diseases. The purpose of this work was to study the possibility of removing toxic nickel (II) ions from polluted water using an iron (III) chloride (FeCl3) coagulant.

Synthesis and characterisation of new MO(OH)2 (M = Zr, Hf) oxyhydroxides and related Li2MO3 salts.

Two new solid MO(OH)2 (M = Zr, Hf) oxyhydroxides have been synthesised by an ion-exchange reaction from Li2MO3 (M = Zr, Hf) precursors obtained by a citrate combustion technique. The crystal structure of the oxyhydroxides has been solved by direct methods and refined using Rietveld full profile fitting based on X-ray powder diffraction data. Both oxyhydroxides crystallize in a P2(1)/c monoclinic unit cell and have a structure resembling that of the related salts.