title: Nano- and micro-sized rare-earth carbonates and their use as precursors and sacrificial templates for the synthesis of new innovative materials.
abstract: This review focuses on rare-earth carbonate materials of nano- and micro-size. It discusses in depth the different types of rare-earth carbonate compounds, diverse synthetic approaches and possibilities for chemical tuning of the size, shape and morphology. The interesting luminescence properties of lanthanide doped rare-earth carbonates and their potential applications for example as efficient white light sources and biolabels are reviewed. Additionally the use of these materials as precursors for the synthesis of nano-/micro-sized oxides, and their application as sacrificial templates for morphology-controlled synthesis of other materials such as YVO4, LaF3, NaYF4 and others is overviewed.
authors.affiliation: L3- Luminescent Lanthanide Lab, Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281-S3, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. Anna.Kaczmarek@Ugent.be Rik.VanDeun@Ugent.be.
authors.forename: Anna M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Kaczmarek
authors.forename: Kristof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Van Hecke
authors.forename: Rik
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Van Deun
mesh_terms: D002254:Carbonates / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry*; D060326:Chemistry Techniques, Synthetic / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008674:Metals, Rare Earth / Q000737:chemistry*; D008863:Microspheres; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D002254:Carbonates; D008674:Metals, Rare Earth