Synthesis and characterization of monolithic Gd₂O₃ aerogels

In this thesis, we will elaborate on the synthesis and characterization of monolithic Gd₂O₃ aerogel. We conducted the experiment in the following procedure. Use gadolinium nitrate or gadolinium chloride, a kind of inorganic gadolinium salt as raw material, and polymerize it in ethanol with propylene oxide as gelation initiator in the way of sol-gel. After this step, we can obtain the wet gel. Then, dry the wet gel by supercritical CO₂, at last we will get aerogel. The product has strong transparency and also shows some thermal stability. XRD characterization shows that it is amorphous. Nitrogen adsorption/desorption analysis tells clearly its surface area (223 m²/g), average pore diameters (42 nm) and large pore volume (1.83 ml/g). It is also characterized by transmission electron microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy.