Hydrothermal synthesis of mixed rare earth-alkali metal or ammonium fluorides

The recent results on hydrothermal synthesis of mixed rare earth-alkali or ammonium fluorides were presented. The initial ratios of the starting materials, pH value and reaction temperature were the critical factors for obtaining the single-phase product. Four main types of complex rare earth fluorides, AREF4, A2REF5, ARE2F7 and ARE3F10 (A=Na+, K+, Rb+, NH4+), appeared in the primary hydrothermal reactions. The correlation between cation sizes and the formation of mixed rare earth fluorides under mild hydrothermal condition was given.