TITLE:
Solid-State Synthesis of Metastable Ytterbium (II) Oxide
AUTHORS:
Aoi Goto, Yoshio Ohta, Mikito Kitayama
KEYWORDS:
Metastable Ytterbium (II) Oxide, Lanthanide, Solid-State Synthesis
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering,
Vol.6 No.3,
March
28,
2018
ABSTRACT: Due to its electron configuration (Xe) 4 f14 6 s2, Ytterbium (Yb) could form divalent oxide, YbO. In this study, the solid-state synthesis of metastable YbO was investigated by the oxidation of Yb metal at normal pressure using two experimental conditions: 1) heat treatment of Yb metal under Ar gas atmosphere with metal carbonate as an oxygen source; and 2) heat treatment of Yb metal under the continuous gas flow condition using various gas atmospheres. Products were identified using the powder X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope. It was found that almost single phase YbO was obtained in the experimental condition 1) using the molar ratio of Ca-CO3/Yb = 0.4. Thermodynamic calculations suggested that the YbO formation be controlled not by thermodynamics but by kinetics, and further that the evaporation of Yb metal in the BN crucible played a key role for the formation of the meta-stable YbO.