Inorganic-salt-induced morphological transformation and luminescent performance of GdF3 nanostructures

Inorganic-salt-induced morphological evolution of GdF3 crystals was demonstrated for the first time in a mild hydrothermal process. By varying the amount of inorganic salt, the GdF3 crystals could transform from uniform elliptic nanostructures to submicroplates. The increase of ionic strength, hindered diffusion of reactant ions, and selectively adsorption of barium cations were responsible for such morphological transformation. Besides, relatively low concentration of F(-) contributed to the formation of GdF3 in the presence of foreign inorganic salt, instead of ternary fluoride. In addition, the luminescence properties of the as-formed nanostructures were investigated by singly doping Eu(3+), Tb(3+), and Dy(3+) into the GdF3 matrix.