Erbium(III) carbonate is an erbium compound with the chemical formula .
Preparation Erbium carbonate can be made by the thermal decomposition of erbium(III) trichloroacetate which can be made by the reaction between erbium(III) oxide and trichloroacetic acid.
Alternatively, the poor solubility of erbium carbonate in water can be used to precipitate it from an aqueous solution of erbium(III) ions and carbonate ions.
Properties Erbium carbonate thermally decomposes to erbium(III) oxide upon heating.
This can be used to produce nano particles of erbium oxide as erbium carbonate can be selectively precipitated into particles with an average size of 36 nm. Smaller sizes between 10 nm and 20 nm have also been reported.
It has a low solubility in water but dissolves in acids like perchloric acid.
It reacts with the chelator thenoyltrifluoroacetone by losing the three carbonate ions.
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