Growth and characterization of novel ferroelectric bis(methylammonium) tetrachlorozincate

Single crystals of ferroelectric bis(methylammonium) tetrachlorozincate are grown by slow evaporation method within a period of 5 weeks at 303 K. The grown crystal is subjected to single crystal X-ray diffraction, UV–vis analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and mechanical and thermal analysis (TG/DTA/DSC). The crystalline perfection is identified with HR XRD studies. Two phase transitions at about 208.2 and 285.3 °C are identified from differential scanning calorimetric studies. The results are confirmed with differential thermal analysis and dielectric studies. The band gap energy is calculated from UV studies as 2.7 eV. Important parameters like polarizability which are useful for device fabrication, are also calculated theoretically using Clausius–Mossotti equation and Penn analysis and their results are compared.