TITLE:
Growth and Structural Characterization of Gadolinium Neodymium Oxalate Crystals Grown in Hydro-Silica Gel
AUTHORS:
Ignatius Korah, Cyriac Joseph, M.A. Ittyachen
KEYWORDS:
Rare earths, Oxalate Crystals, Gel growth
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engineering,
Vol.9 No.12,
December
20,
2010
ABSTRACT: Gadolinium Neodymium Oxalate (GNO) single crystals were grown in hydrosilica gel by the
diffusion of a mixture of aqueous solutions of the respective rare earth nitrates into a gel,
impregnated with oxalic acid, in a test tube. Pink, transparent, hexagonal GNO crystals were
obtained on optimization of growth parameters. The crystals are found to be monoclinic by the
XRD analysis. The presence of water of hydration and carboxylic group in the grown crystals
was confirmed by IR analysis. EDAX analysis confirmed the presence of Gd and Nd in the grown
samples. The thermal decomposition behavior of the grown crystals were studied by
thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential thermal analysis (DTA). The thermal
analysis results concur with the proposed crystal structure.