Structural, thermal and dielectric properties of cadmium malate single crystal grown in limited diffusion media

Single crystals of cadmium malate trihydrate have been grown by the controlled diffusion of ionic species in hydrosilica gel. Single crystal X-ray diffraction studies show that the crystal belongs to the monoclinic system with space group P2₁/n. The functional groups elucidated from the FTIR spectrum are in conformity with the information derived from the X- ray diffraction studies. The thermal behaviour of the material has been investigated using TG- DTA techniques. The optical band gap of the material has been estimated using diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The dielectric constant, dielectric loss and a.c. conductivity of the crystal are studied over wide temperature and frequency ranges.