Neodymium(III) fluoride


Neodymium fluoride is an inorganic chemical compound of neodymium and fluorine with the formula NdF3. It is a purplish pink colored solid with a high melting point.

Preparation

Like other lanthanide fluorides it is highly insoluble in water which allows it to be synthesised from aqueous neodymium nitrate via a reaction with hydrofluoric acid, from which it precipitates as a hydrate:
It can also be obtained by the reaction of neodymium(III) oxide and hydrofluoric acid:
Anhydrous material may be obtained by the simple drying of the hydrate, in contrast to the hydrates of other neodymium halides, which form mixed oxyhalides if heated.

Uses

Neodymium fluoride is often used in the manufacture of fluoride glasses.
When neodymium is extracted from ores, the fluoride is often an intermediate product and is then reduced to the solid metal chemically or by fused-salt electrolysis.

Other compounds

Neodymium fluoride forms compounds with N2H4, such as NdF3•3N2H4•3H2O which is a white hexagonal crystal, soluble in water, slightly soluble in methanol and ethanol, with d20°C = 2.3547 g/cm3.