Synthesis of praseodymium hydroxide (Pr(OH)3) and praseodymium oxide (Pr6O11) nanorods via room temperature aging.

In this study, room-temperature aging has been investigated as an alternative to high-temperature hydrothermal processing for manufacturing Pr(OH)(3) nanorods. It was found that a simple process consisting of precipitation, washing, and room-temperature aging results in the formation of Pr(OH)(3) nanorods that are structurally different to those synthesized by hydrothermal processing. Rather than single crystals, the nanorods were found to consist of crystals viewed down the [12¯10] and [11¯00] axes sharing a common [0001] growth direction. Subsequent calcination yielded Pr(6)O(11) nanorods consisting of cubic crystals viewed down the [11¯0] and [11¯2¯] directions. The constituent crystals shared a common [110] direction parallel with the longitudinal rod axis.