Complex oxides of
the RE2Hf2O7 series are functional
materials that exist in the fluorite or pyrochlore phase depending
on synthesis method and calcination temperature. In this study, we
investigate the process of synthesis, crystal structure stabilization,
and phase transition in a series of RE hafnate compounds, synthesized
by the coprecipitation process of a single-source complex hydroxide
precursor followed with direct calcination or molten-salt synthesis
(MSS) method. Phase pure RE2Hf2O7 (RE = Y, La, Pr, Gd, Er, and Lu) ultrafine nanostructured powders
were obtained after calcinating the precursor in a molten salt at
650 °C for 6 h. Moreover, we demonstrate that the MSS method
can successfully stabilize ideal pyrochlore structures for La2Hf2O7 and Pr2Hf2O7 in the nanodomain, which is not possible to achieve
by direct calcination of the coprecipitated precursor at 650 °C.
We propose mechanisms to elucidate the differences in these two synthesis
methods and highlight the superiority of the MSS method for the production
of RE hafnate nanoparticles.