Crystal growth, spectral, optical and thermal properties of semiorganic nonlinear optical material: Picolinic acid hydrochloride

• PHCL crystallizes in orthorhombic crystal system.
• Molecular structure was confirmed by NMR spectral analysis.
• The kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of thermal degradation process have been calculated.

The bulk single crystal of 2-picolinic acid hydrochloride (PHCL) (a semi-organic nonlinear optical material of dimensions 25 × 15 × 10 mm3) was successfully grown by slow solvent evaporation technique. The XRD results revealed the cell parameters and the centrosymmetric nature of the crystal structure. FT-IR spectral study identified the functional groups, nature of bonding and their bond strength. The UV–Vis–NIR studies recognized the optical transmittance window and the lower cut off wavelength of the PHCL crystal and thus it could be performed as a NLO material. 1H NMR and 13CNMR spectra were correlated with the XRD standard for the molecular structure reveals harmony of the materials. Thermal properties of the crystal were studied by thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential thermal analysis (DTA); the derived kinetic parameter values support the intuitive association of picolinicacid and HCl leads to the spontaneous formation of PHCL with a first order reaction. The presence of a proton and a proton acceptor groups provide the necessary stability to induce charge asymmetry in the PHCL structure. The load dependent hardness values of the crystal were measured by microhardness testing.

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