I have made some rare earth fluoride nanoparticles coated with oleylamine and then disperse it into toluene. The solution color turns to brownish and I wasn't expecting this. I try to make it again and the result is the same. So does any one has any idea what the reason might be?
Maybe amine gets oxidized? Try to make an experiment under inert atmosphere. Amines itself easily oxidize in air and get yellow/orange/brown colour.
You can try to remove the brownish color by redispersing the particles again in fresh oleylamine and washing of the oxidized amine.
Several methods for synthesis of RE Fluorides use rare earth chlorides as precursor, therefore stirring the solution under vacuum is necessary to remove residual water and oxygen.
You should remove water and air from solution before heating it higher than 200°C. Instead of evacuating bubbling with inert gas is also possible.
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