Studies on the growth and characterization of Benzimidazolium Picrate single crystals

Abstract

A new organic charge transfer molecular complex salt Benzimidazolium Picrate (BPI) single crystals were grown by slow evaporation solution growth technique using acetone as a solvent at room temperature. The grown crystals were characterised by single crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD) and powder XRD which confirm that the crystal belongs to monoclinic system with the centrosymmetric space group P21/c. The presence of functional groups in the grown crystal were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectrum analysis. The BPI crystal is found to be thermally stable up to 147.7 °C. The optical quality of the crystal was characterized using UV–Vis spectrophotometer. Vickers hardness study carried out at room temperature shows that the hardness increases with increase in the load. Dielectric studies were also carried out for the grown crystals. The fluorescence spectrum was recorded using spectrofluorometer. The nonlinear refractive index, nonlinear absorption coefficient and third-order nonlinear susceptibility of BPI crystal were also estimated.