SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF LANTHANIDE CARBONATES OBTAINED DURING THE REACTION OF UREA WITH LANTHANIDE(III) SALTS AT HIGH TEMPERATURE

Lanthanide(III) carbonates, Ln2(CO3)3·nH2O (Ln = Y, La, Ce or Sm; n = 4–6) were obtained during the reac-tion of aqueous solutions of LnX3 (X − = Cl − or NO3−) with urea at ~ 80oC for several hours. The reaction products were characterized via elemental analysis and infrared spectroscopy. The infrared spectra clearly show the character-istic bands due to carbonate ions. General reaction equations describing the formation of lanthanide carbonates were proposed. Key words: lanthanide(III) ions; urea; infrared spectr