Neodymium(III) 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.
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.[1]
Uses
Neodymium(III) fluoride is often used in the manufacture of fluoride glasses.[3]
When neodymium is extracted from ores, the fluoride is often an intermediate product and is then reduced to the solid metal chemically (e.g. by adding calcium, which produces calcium fluoride) or by fused-salt electrolysis.
Other compounds
Neodymium(III) 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.[4]
^Georg Brauer (Hrsg.), unter Mitarbeit von Marianne Baudler u. a.: Handbuch der Präparativen Anorganischen Chemie. 3., umgearbeitete Auflage. Band I, Ferdinand Enke, Stuttgart 1975, ISBN 3-432-02328-6, S. 254.
