Rare Earth Oxide Coating of the Walls of SBA-15

Rare earth oxide dispersions, primarily europium doped yttria (YOX), in the ordered mesoporous material SBA-15 were synthesized by impregnating the calcined host material with different aqueous rare earth nitrate solutions and subsequent calcination. The materials obtained were characterized by N 2 -sorption measurements, XRD, TEM, IR, and optical spectra. The data suggest a coating of the internal surfaces of SBA-15 by rare earth oxides at loadings up to a monolayer, while at higher loading oxide nanoparticles form.