Hydrothermal synthesis and structural study of lanthanide orthovanadates, LnVO4 (Ln = Sm, Gd, Dy and Ho)

Four lanthanide orthovanadates, LnVO4 (Ln = Sm, Gd, Dy and Ho) have been directly precipitated under mild hydrothermal condition. Their crystal structure has been investigated at room temperature by Rietveld analysis of powder X-ray diffraction data. All the lanthanide orthovanadates possess a tetragonal zircon structure, crystallizing in the space group I41/amd; a = 7.1429(4) and c = 6.3(4) Å and Z = 4. The solids were further characterized by thermal analysis and spectroscopic methods.