Lanthanide-based lamellar nanohybrids: The case of erbium

A general non-aqueous route was applied to the preparation of erbium oxide based ordered nanocrystalline hybrid structures. In a simple one-pot reaction process, Er3+ isopropoxide was dissolved in benzyl alcohol and reacted in an autoclave at 300 °C. This approach leads to crystalline sub-nanometer thick Er2O3 oxide layers (crystallized in the monoclinic structure) regularly separated from each other by organic layers of intercalated benzoate molecules. They display good thermal stability for temperature up to 450 °C and outstanding optical emission properties in the near infrared region interesting for optical fiber technology.