Effect of Cd2+ on the Growth and Thermal Properties of K2SO4 crystal

摘要

Single crystals of pure and Cd2+ doped potassium sulfate were grown fromaqueous solutions by the slow evaporation technique. From nutrient solutionswith a CdSO4 concentration of 4wt.% crystals containing 0.014wt.% dopantconcentration could be obtained. The X-ray diffraction patterns of powderedcrystals confirmed their crystal structures for both cases. Thermal analysis ofpure crystals shows that the alpha-beta phase transformation peak around 580deg C is superimposed with spurious effects, while for Cd2+ doped crystals thisis not the case. The thermal hysteresis of the phase transition is 8 K forundoped K2SO4 and is reduced to 3.5 K for K2SO4:Cd2+. Compared to undopedcrystals, the optical transmittance of Cd2+ doped crystals is higher.