Abstract
Gadolinium oxy-carbonate and oxide nanostructures have been successfully obtained via simple non-isothermal heat treatment of gadolinium acetate precursor. Nanosheets of (GdO)2CO3 were developed as a consequence of heating the acetate precursor over the 400–500 °C range and these were stripped into thin lamellar nanorods of cubic Gd2O3 when the heat treatment was applied at the 600–800 °C range. The analysis of N2 adsorption isotherms revealed the microporosity of both phases and the BET calculated surface areas showed a gradual decrease with the pretreatment temperature of Gd2O3. Surface inspection using XPS indicated the presence of Gd in 3+ valence states at the surfaces of (GdO)2CO3 and Gd2O3. H2-TPR results revealed the refractory nature of Gd2O3 nanoparticles against reduction. Moreover, a possible reaction of H2 and CO2 was suggested. The electrical conductivity has been measured during the decomposition of the gadolinium precursor and for the 500–800 °C pre-treated samples.