Samarium(III) nitrate is an odorless, white-colored chemical compound with the formula Sm(NO<sub>3</sub>)<sub>3</sub>. It forms the hexahydrate, which decomposes at 50ðC to the anhydrous form. When further heated to 420ðC, it is converted to the oxynitrate, and at 680ðC it decomposes to form samarium(III) oxide.
Samarium(III) nitrate is produced by the reaction of samarium hydroxide and nitric acid:
Samarium(III) nitrate is a lewis acid catalyst that is used to produce a nitrate precursor solution that is used as a nanocatalyst in the solid oxide regenerative fuel cells. The nanocatalyst is made by mixing samarium(III) nitrate hexahydrate, strontium nitrate, and cobalt(II) nitrate hexahydrate.
Samarium(III) nitrate is also used for the preparation of samarium doped ceria, which can be used in the fabrication of electrolytes for fuel cells. The samarium doped ceria is produced by mixing cerium(III) nitrate and samarium(III) nitrate together using triethylene glycol as a solvent for 5 hours at 200ðC. Then it was dried for 4 hours at 110ðC which resulted in a brown solid. Then it was heated up to 500ðC for two hours which made the samarium doped ceria.