Uniform rare-earth gadolinium oxide (Gd₂O₃) hollow microspheres, as formed through a urea-assisted homogenous precipitation process using carbon spheres as a template and a subsequent heat treatment, were characterized by using X-ray diffraction, Fourier transformed infared spectroscopy, thermogravimetry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and Brunauer-Emmett-Tellet surface area measurement. The results indicate that the final products can be indexed to a cubic Gd₂O₃ phase with high purity and have a uniform morphology at 500 nm in diameter and 20 nm in shell thickness. The as-synthesized Gd₂O₃ hollow microspheres exhibited a superior photooxidation activity to that of Gd₂O₃ powder and an effect similar to P25, significantly broadening the potential of Gd₂O₃ hollow microspheres for many practical applications.
Keywords: gadolinium oxide; hollow microspheres; photooxidation; preparation.