Structural, magnetic, dielectric and thermal analysis of gel grown pure and doped cadmium tartrate crystals

Pure and doped cadmium tartrate crystals of different morphology have been synthesized. They were obtained using a gel technique. The metallic composition of the crystals was estimated using energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX). The coloration of the crystals changed with the type and composition of metallic content. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) suggested the presence of OH, CO, CO and metal-oxygen bonds. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) suggested the crystalline nature of the material and indicated the changes in unit cell volume as doping occurred. The unit cell volume for pure cadmium tartrate crystal was found to be 881.440 Å3, for Cu2+ doped cadmium tartrate 811.885 Å3, for Fe2+ doped cadmium tartrate 767.486 Å3 and for Mg2+ doped cadmium tartrate 788.481 Å3. The magnetic susceptibility and magnetic moment for the crystals were determined by using the Gouy's method. The magnetic moment of pure cadmium tartrate, Cu2+ doped cadmium tartrate, Fe2+ doped cadmium tartrate and Mg2+ doped cadmium tartrate crystals was found to be 3.84 BM, 1.33 BM, 2.76 BM and 3.64 BM, respectively. Thermogravimetric (TG) analysis of pure and doped cadmium tartrate crystals suggest the possibility of the presence of co-ordinated water molecules in the crystalline structure. There are two stages of decomposition for the materials. The first is a minor stage of decomposition, the second is the major stage of decomposition, which is confirmed through differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). At the completion of decomposition only metal oxide remains for both pure and doped crystals. The addition of dopants into the pure cadmium tartrate crystals has an appreciable effect on the dielectric properties such as dielectric constant and dielectric loss of the crystal.