Well-Defined Sodium Lanthanum Molybdate Microrods: Citrate-Assisted Hydrothermal Synthesis and Luminescence Properties

A variety of uniform sodium lanthanum molybdate [NaLa(MoO4)(2)] microrods have been fabricated via a facile and controllable hydrothermal approach with trisodium citrate as surfactant. The as-synthesized NaLa(MoO4)(2) microrods are well-dispersed and distributed in a narrow size distribution. The morphology and particle size of the samples can be easily tuned in a controlled manner by changing the reaction conditions, such as pH value of the initial solution, amount of surfactant, reaction temperature and time. The as-obtained NaLa(MoO4)(2):Tb3+ sample exhibit intense characteristic green emission under ultraviolet excitation, which might find potential applications in the fields of fluorescent lamps, optoelectronic devices, and light emitting diodes (LEDs). The facile synthesis strategy may be extended to the controllable synthesis of other well-defined lanthanide molybdate functional materials.