AQUEOUS RARE EARTH PHOSPHATE COLLOIDAL DISPERSION AND PREPARATION METHOD.

The invention concerns an aqueous colloidal dispersion of rare earth phosphate isotropic particles, characterised in that it comprises either a complexing medium having a pK (cologarithm of the dissociation constant of the complex formed by the complexing agent and said rare earth) higher than 2.5, or a water-soluble monovalent acid anion having a pK ranging between 2.5 and 5, or still the complexing agent and/or said monovalent acid. When the rare earth is cerium and lanthanum, the particles have an average size of not more than 20 nm. The dispersions can have a colloid agglomeration rate of less than 40 %. Said dispersion can be prepared by forming an aqueous mixture comprising at least a rare earth salt and the complexing agent or the monovalent acid anion, adding to the resulting mixture a base of phosphate ions, heating the resulting medium, thereby obtaining a precipitate which is re-dispersed in water.