Abstract

Study of the surface microstructure and optical properties of pearls induced growing by rare earth cerium

Author(s): Weilin Shi, Yef Fei Jin, Yuan Liang

We investigated the influence of rare earth element (REE) Ce on the surface microstructure and luster of pearls in the scaled of micro and nanometer range by means of scanning electronic microscopy (SEM),reflect and Raman spectra.We found that the pearls in control group without adding REE dosage are mainly build up by spindly aragonite blocks, while the REE pearls are made up by pseudo-hexagonal blocks that are the most idea blocks in crystallography. The luster of REE pearls is stronger than that of the control pearls.And the reflect intensity also is largely enhanced than that of the control pearls. The intensity of Raman vibration peak from REE pearls is almost two times than that of the control pearls. The results show that an appropriate quantity of REE Ce will promote the growth of pearls, and enhanced the lustrous of pearls significantly.