Characterization of gel grown iron-manganese-cobalt ternary levo-tartrate crystals

In the present investigation, iron-manganese-cobalt ternary levo-tartrate crystals of different compositions have been grown by single-diffusion gel growth technique in silica hydrogel medium. The metallic composition in the crystals was estimated by EDAX. The coloration of the crystals changed with composition of metallic content. The powder XRD study suggested the crystalline nature and indicated the presence of some extra phases. The grown crystals were characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy, TGA, dielectric and Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM) studies. The FT-IR study suggested the presence of O-H, C=O, C-O and metal-oxygen bonds. The effect of composition of metallic content was observed in certain absorption regions in FT-IR spectra. The thermal stability of the crystals was studied by thermogravimetry and the kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of dehydration were calculated. The effect of composition of ternary levo-tartrate was observed in dielectric study. The dielectric study was carried out in the frequency range of applied field from 500 Hz to 1 MHz. ne variations in dielectric constant, dielectric loss, a.c. resistivity and a.c. conductivity with frequency of applied field were studied. VSM study suggested that all crystals were of paramagnetic nature. (C) 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim