Lanthanum oxide
Properties
Chemical formula: La₂O₃
Name: Lanthanum(III) oxide / lanthanum oxide
CAS No.: 1312-81-8
Molar mass: 325.81 g/mol
Density: 6.51 g/cm³
Melting point: approx. 2315 °C
Boiling point: approx. 4200 °C
Color: white
Form: fine powder
Solubility: practically insoluble in water, soluble in inorganic acids
Lanthanum(III) oxide (La₂O₃) is an inorganic compound belonging to the group of rare-earth oxides. It is supplied as a fine, odorless white powder. With a melting point of approximately 2315 °C and a boiling point of around 4200 °C, lanthanum oxide offers exceptionally high thermal stability.
La₂O₃ is practically insoluble in water but reacts slowly to form lanthanum hydroxide, La(OH)₃. The compound is highly hygroscopic and readily absorbs moisture and carbon dioxide from ambient air. In inorganic acids, lanthanum oxide dissolves easily to form the corresponding lanthanum(III) salts.
One of the most important properties of La₂O₃ is its effect on optical glass. Adding lanthanum oxide can significantly increase the refractive index while keeping light dispersion very low. This makes the material particularly useful for high-quality optical glasses designed to minimize chromatic aberration.
At elevated temperatures, lanthanum oxide exhibits p-type semiconductor behavior and has a wide band gap of approximately 4.3 eV. Its high dielectric constant also makes the material relevant as a high-k dielectric for advanced microelectronic applications.
Industrial lanthanum oxide is mainly produced by thermal calcination of lanthanum carbonate, lanthanum oxalate or lanthanum hydroxide at temperatures above 800 °C. In addition to optical materials, La₂O₃ is used in catalysts, fuel cells, ceramics, microelectronics and laser technology.
Lanthanum and its compounds are particularly important in specialty optical glass, catalyst systems, functional ceramics and electronic materials. Would you like to buy lanthanum oxide? Auremo can provide information about available grades and delivery conditions. The lanthanum price, lanthanum metal price and lanthanum price per kg primarily refer to metallic lanthanum, while the lanthanum oxide price depends on purity, quantity and material specifications.
Advantages
• Significant increase in the refractive index of optical glass
• Low dispersion and reduced chromatic aberration
• Very high thermal stability
• Melting point of approximately 2315 °C
• High dielectric constant
• Suitable as a high-k dielectric material
• Good catalytic activity
• Improves the thermal stability of catalyst systems
Applications
• Specialty optical glass
• Camera lenses and microscope optics
• Precision prisms
• FCC catalysts in petroleum refining
• Exhaust-gas catalyst systems
• Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC)
• Electrolyte and anode materials
• Piezoelectric ceramics
• Microelectronics
• High-k gate dielectrics for integrated circuits
• Infrared fiber lasers
• Doping of specialty optical materials
Auremo offers lanthanum oxide and other rare-earth materials for industrial and technical applications. If you have any questions about La₂O₃, available purity grades, product forms or delivery conditions, please contact us directly.
