Synthesis and Purification KY3F1

Abstract

In this work, a study of the experimental conditions for the synthesis and purification of KY3F10 will bepresented. In the compound synthesis a mixture with stoichiometric composition of KF (25 mol%) andYF3 (75 mol%) was melted in a platinum boat at 1000oC. The rare earth fluoride was obtained by thehydrofluorination method from a high purity commercial yttrium oxide (99.99%, Aldrich). KFcommercial powder of 99% (Johnson Mattey) purity was utilized. The synthesized material was semitransparent and composed of well-formed KY3F10 grains. The purification was performed using the zonerefining technique with a hot zone translation rate of 4 mm/h. Both processes were carried out under aHF+Ar flux to prevent contamination by oxygen and moisture. The characterization of the materials wascarried out by differential thermal analysis, X-ray powder diffraction and scanning electron microscopy.