Synthesis, Growth and Characterization of Sodium Mixed Cadmium Oxalate Crystals

Abstract
The newly synthesized CdNa2?2C2O4?2H2O crystals having a size of 0.30 × 0.25 × 0.20 mm3 were grown by the single-diffusion reaction method in the silica gel medium at 28?C temperature. The crystalline nature of crystals was determined in 20 days by 1) varying the concentrations of the feed solutions and the gel pH level, 2) changing the specific gravity of the feed solution, and 3) changing the gel aging period. The crystals were characterized by using the methods such as powder X-ray diffraction, FTIR, UV, SEM-EDAX, TGA/DTA, and micro-hardness test. The structure of as-grown crystals was determined by the powder crystal XRD patterns. FTIR & SEM-EDAX spectral analyses were used to confirm the presence of the required functional groups of as grown crystals. UV absorption spectrum, the absorption peaks at 224.64 nanometer, determined the energy gap. TGA/DTA thermo gram was used to detect the thermal stability of sodium mixed cadmium oxalate dihydrate crystals. The present grown crystals were brittle and also plastic in nature was identified by Vickers micro-hardness test.