Study of Growth and Characterization of Cobalt Tartrate Crystals

Abstract

In present investigation, single crystals of cobalt tartrate were grown by using silica gel as a growth medium. These single crystals were grown by simple gel technique using diffusion method. The optimum growth conditions for these crystals were optimized by varying various parameters. The circular shaped, opaque and brown colored crystals were observed. The crystalline nature of grown crystal was confirmed by using powder X-ray diffraction technique which shows that cobalt tartrate hydrate has crystallized in orthorhombic structure. The functional groups present in the crystals were identified by using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis which shows that the presence of O-H bond, C-H bond and metal–oxygen bond. The Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) study reveals that the crystals having flat, rectangular and orthorhombic shapes of different sizes and structures embedded in rock like structure. The analysis of X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDAX) has shown the presence of Cobalt and Oxygen. The values of energy gap and band gap energy were calculated from UV-visible absorption spectra and these values were determined as 8.45 eV and 5.27 eV respectively. The Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) was done to find the thermal properties of the crystal which manifest the water of hydration in the crystal.