A simple microwave-assisted hydrothermal synthesis of lanthanum hydroxide nanowires with a high aspect ratio

Abstract

Uniform La(OH) 3 nanowires (NWs) with a high aspect ratio of more than 200 have been successfully synthesized by a simple microwave-assisted hydrothermal (MH) process. Comparing to a conventional hydrothermal (CH) one, the La (OH) 3 powders obtained are nanorods in shape with an aspect ratio below 100 and required higher temperature and longer time than the MH. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses revealed that MH-La(OH) 3 NWs were hexagonal structure with 5μm long and 15-25 nm diameter. A formation mechanism of La(OH) 3 NWs was proposed and discussed in this research.