Optical properties of calcium chromate 1D-nanorods synthesized at low temperature from secondary resources

• No efforts were put to synthesize CaCrO4 nanorods.
• A very few reports investigate their related optical properties.
• A thermodynamic model of the involved reactions was suggested.

Calcium chromate 1D-nanorods have been synthesized from tannery waste solution. The solution was filtered to get rid of insoluble matters followed by addition of ammonia to precipitate calcium and chromium as hydroxide gel. The gel was heated within the temperature range 300–600 °C. At 300 °C amorphous phase of calcium chromate was formed. At 400 °C compounds of CaCrO4, Cr2O3, CaCO3 and minor amount of Mg2CO3(OH)2(H2O)3 (Artinite) were detected. At 500 °C, CaCrO4 compound was the major product together with traces of Cr2O3, CaCO3 and MgO. At 600 °C, a crystalline compound of CaCrO4 was formed. Nanorods of calcium chromate structured during heating associated with the crystal growth. Properties of heated products are evaluated with the help of XRD, TEM and FT-IR measurements. Optical properties of the obtained calcium chromate were estimated. A thermodynamic model of the involved reactions is suggested to explore the findings.

(a) TEM image of calcium chromate nanorods heated at 600 °C and (b) optical properties of produced calcium chromate nanorods at different temperatures.Figure optionsDownload high-quality image (186 K)Download as PowerPoint slide