Formation of Nanparticles and Red Floursecenceinleucine Capped Cerium Fluoride Nanoparticles

Abstract

Fluorides of rare earth metal have been investigated thoroughly in the past due to the potential they hold for a variety of optical applications. However, presence of low luminescence and poor water solubility limit the use of these in bio-medical applications. Among the various materials, CeF₃ nanostructures are found to have hollow inner cavities, which have attracted attention of scientific community. Cerium fluoride was synthesised by co-precipitation method in the presence of the Leucineas a ligand. Analytical grade salt of Cerium(III) chloride heptahydrate and Ammonium Fluoride were used as raw materials with assay of 99.9%.The X- ray diffraction pattern indicates hexagonal crystal structure (JCPDS card no. 70-0002). TEM measurements show assorted sized nanocrystals of hexagonal geometry with average particle size of nearly14 nm. The UV profile shows multiple absorption edges below 328 nm indicating quantum dot nature of the synthesised nano crystals. The PL emission wavelength lying at 331nm corresponding to 5d to 4f transition of Ce⁺³and is in close agreement with UV counterpart.  The synthesised nanocrystals are found to show red fluorescence around 628nm.