Solubility of Mixed Lanthanide Hydroxide and Oxide Solid Solutions

Abstract

The solubilities of different multicomponent lanthanide oxide (Ln₂O₃) solid solutions including binary (Ln₁ and Ln₂ = La, Nd, Eu, or Tm), ternary (Ln₁, Ln₂, and Ln₃ = La, Nd, Eu, or Tm), and higher systems (Ln = La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Lu) were studied after aging for four weeks at 60°C. Our recent study revealed that the phase transformations in binary ((La, Nd) and (La, Eu)) and ternary (La, Nd, Eu) systems are responsible for the formation of (La, Nd)(OH)₃, (La, Eu)(OH)₃, and (La, Nd, Eu)(OH)₃ solid solutions, respectively. The variations in the mole fractions of La³⁺, Nd³⁺, and Eu³⁺ in the sample solutions of these hydroxide solid solutions indicated that a thermodynamic equilibrium might account for the apparent La, Nd, and Eu solubilities. Conversely, the binary and ternary systems containing Tm₂O₃ as the heavy lanthanide oxide retained the oxide-based solid solutions, and their solubility behaviors were dominated by their congruent dissolutions. In the higher multicomponent system, the X-ray diffraction patterns of the solid phases, before and after contact with the aqueous phase indicated the formation of a stable oxide solid solution and their solubility behavior was explained by its congruent dissolution.