Uses
Cerium Fluoride, is the important raw material for polishing powder, special glass, metallurgical applications. In glass industry, it is considered to be the most efficient glass polishing agent for precision optical polishing. It is also used to decolorize glass by keeping iron in its ferrous state. In steel manufacturing, it is used to remove free Oxygen and Sulfur by forming stable oxysulfides and by tying up undesirable trace elements, such as lead and antimony.
Description
Cerium(III) Fluoride (CeF3), in particular, is successfully used in experiments in high-energy physics. As a potential scintillator and a tunable laser material, CeF3 is a luminescent material with 100% activator (Ce3+) concentration. CeF3 has been previously prepared by several methods, including the reaction of CeO2 with fluorine gas at elevated temperature, using high-intensity ultrasound, rapid microwave method, thermal decomposition of precursors, hydrothermal synthesis, synthesis by precipitation from aqueous solutions, sol-gel method, synthesis of nanoparticles in colloidal nanoreactors, solvothermal method and conventional melting technique[1].
Chemical Properties
Off-white powder. Insoluble in water and acids.
Uses
Cerium(III) fluoride is used to make Lewis acid. It is considered to be the most effective glass polishing agent for high precision optical polishing. Cerium fluoride used as a core additive to improve the properties of the eventual weld. The fluoride provides stability to the arc and also modifies the behavior of the molten metal flowing into the weld.
Uses
In arc carbons to increase their brilliance; prepa-
ration of cerium metal.
Flammability and Explosibility
Non flammable
Safety Profile
Low toxicity by
ingestion. See FLUORIDES and CERIUM
COMPOUNDS. When heated to
decomposition it emits toxic fumes of F-.
References
[1] V.G. Ilves, M.A. Uimin, S. Yu Sokovnin . “Properties of cerium (III) fluoride nanopowder obtained by pulsed electron beam evaporation.” Journal of Fluorine Chemistry 253 (2022): Article 109921.
