A simple technique for preparing carbon encapsulated La and Eu nanoparticles

A simple and efficient method for preparing graphitic carbon encapsulated rare-earth metal (lanthanum and europium) nanoparticles was explored. The samples were obtained by carbonizing a mixture of soluble metallic salt and dextrose at 773 K, and subsequently annealing the mixture at 1273 K in a nitrogen atmosphere. The annealed samples were studied by X-ray diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, laser particle-size analysis and Raman spectroscopy. The results indicated that the samples prepared in our method were rather different from those described in previous publications. In these publications, the lanthanum (La) was encapsulated in the form of carbide and the europium (Eu) was not wrapped in graphitic carbon when the electric arc discharge method was used, while in our method, the rare-earth metal (La and Eu) nanoparticles were coated by graphitic carbon layers. Using the strategy mentioned above, which exploits a simple route to synthesize carbon encapsulated rare-earth metal nanoparticles with high yield, as much as 12–20 g of product can be prepared at one time. This strategy would be a prospective way for the application of rare-earth metal–carbon nanocapsules. A possible mechanism for the formation of the core–shell structure of these nanoparticles is discussed briefly.