Syntheses of Nd2O3 nanowires through sol-gel process assisted with porous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template

The syntheses of Nd2O3 nanowires were performed through sol-get process assisted with porous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) as a template. The morphology and the phase composition of the prepared nanowires were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and energy disperse spectroscopy (EDS). The results showed that the Nd2O3 nanowires could be successfully synthesized by using this method. The nanowires had successfully grown into the nanochannels of the AAO template. The prepared nanowires were quite uniform. Both the XRD and EDS examinations revealed that the obtained nanowires were not others but Nd2O3. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.