Preparation and arc melting decomposition of cerium trichloride

Cerium trichloride was prepared from the reaction of CeO₂ with AlCl₃ in a sealed quartz ampoule or from the reaction of CeO₂ with CCl₄ in a pressure vessel. The synthetic approach with AlCl₃ allowed for the preparation of hundreds of milligram quantities of material and bypassed the use of solvents or flowing gas reactions. The CeCl₃ sample prepared from AlCl₃ was characterized by powder x-ray diffraction (PXRD), thermogravimetric analysis/ differential scanning calorimetry (TGA–DSC) and scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (SEM–EDS). Thermal decomposition of CeCl₃ prepared from CCl₄ via arc-melting led to the formation of a CeCl₃/CeOCl mixture.