Growth of barite group crystals by the flux evaporation method

Abstract

Single crystals of BaSO₄, SrSO₄ and PbSO₄ have been grown by the flux evaporation method by employing NaCl as flux for BaSO₄ and SrSO₄, and Na₂SO₄ for PbSO₄. The crystals grown by this method are identified with the help of X-ray diffraction photographs. The effect of cooling rate on the morphology of the crystals has been studied in the case of SrSO₄ and BaSO₄. By employing etching techniques, the dislocation densities of BaSO₄ and SrSO₄ have been evaluated and found to be very low as compared to that of natural crystals. A plausible mechanism of growth of the crystals grown by the chemically reacted flux method by Patel et al. has been suggested.