Synthesis and characterization of cerium salt of 12-tungstophosphoric heteropoly acid – Ce-PWA

Abstract

Cerium salt of 12-tungstophosphoric heteropoly acid – Ce-PWA has been successfully synthesized. For the preparation of cerium salt (Ce-PWA), the 12-tungstophosphoric heteropoly acid H3PW12O40×29H2O (PWA) is used as the starting material. PWA is obtained by combining the aqueous solution of the Na2WO4×2H2O with the mixture containing H3PO4 and HCl. Afterward, PWA was transformed into H3PW12O40×6H2O (6-PWA) by heating it to 80 °C in a kiln. The aqueous CeCl3×7H2O solution was prepared by dissolving 0.9975 g CeCl3×7H2O in distilled water. This solution is then mixed with an aqueous solution of 6-PWA, slightly heated in order to start the crystallization process, and left during the night to finish the crystallization. The synthesized Ce-PWA salt is then characterized by the following techniques: thermal analysis (TGA and DTA), X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) and Fourier-transform infrared spectra (FTIR). Synthesized salt Ce-PWA can be successfully used as a precursor in the synthesis process of cerium-doped phosphate tungsten bronze (Ce-PWB).