Synthesis and characterization of ultrafine CeF3 nanoparticles modified by catanionic surfactant via a reverse micelles route

In this article, we firstly reported on the synthesis and characterization of ultrafine CeF₃ nanoparticles (NPs) modified by catanionic surfactant via a reverse micelles-based route. The catanionic surfactant PN was prepared by mixing the di(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (DEHPA) and primary amine (N1923) with 1:1 molar ratio. It exhibited a high surface activity and formed much small reverse micelles in comparison with its individual component (DEHPA or N1923). The PN reverse micelles were then used as templates to prepare ultrafine CeF₃ NPs. The narrow distributed nanoparticles have an average diameter 1.8 nm. FTIR spectra indicated that there existed strong chemical interactions between nanoparticles and the adsorbed surfactants. The modification resulted in the FTIR peak position of PO shifting to lower energy. Due to the effect of modification and small size, the CeF₃ NPs showed a remarkable red shift of 54 nm in the fluorescence emission in comparison with that of bulk material and a red shift of 18 nm in contrast with that of the normal CeF₃ NPs with an average diameter of 16 nm.