Structural, thermal and dielectric properties of cobaltous malonate single crystals grown in limited diffusion media

Well-faceted crystals of cobaltous malonate (C6 H12 Co2 O12) have been grown by the controlled diffusion of ionic species in hydrosilica gel. Single crystal X-ray diffraction studies show that the crystal belongs to the monoclinic system with space group C2/m. The unit cell dimensions are a=12.6301(9) Å, b=7.3857(9) Å, c=7.2945(7) Å, α=γ=90°, β=120.193(9)°. The functional groups, elucidated from the FT-IR spectrum, are in conformity with the information derived from the X-ray diffraction studies. The thermal behaviour of the material has been investigated using TG-DTA in the temperature range 30-1050 °C. The optical band gap of the sample is estimated using diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The dielectric constant and dielectric loss of the crystal have been studied over wide temperature and frequency ranges. AC conductivity measurements reveal a thermally activated process and the mechanism behind the conduction process has been discussed.