| Abstract: | Spherulitic growth of gadolinium tartrate dihydrate crystals by controlled diffusion in silica gel is reported. The influence of growth parameters e.g., reactant concentration, gel pH and gel ageing, on the size, quality and nucleation density of the spherulites has been studied. It is observed that under varying experimental conditions involving change in reactant concentrations, gel pH and gel ageing, the material crystallizes in the form of spherulites. The results of growth kinetics are discussed. Scanning electron microscopy confirms spherulites to be aggregates of single crystallites, with each micro-sized crystal exhibiting a cuboid morphology. Surface structures exhibited by the micro-sized crystals indicate their growth by two-dimensional nucleation mechanism. |
