Synthesis by the coprecipitation method and structural characterization of calcium tungstate with scheelite type structure

CaWO4 nanocrystals were synthesized by the coprecipitation method of with different solvent ratio (water/ethylene glycol) and processed at room temperature. These nanocrystals were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopies, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) e ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) absorption spectroscopies. According to the X-ray patterns, of all the crystals exhibited only a tetragonal scheelita structure without the presence of deleterious phases. The data obtained by the Rietveld refinements revealed that the oxygen atoms occupy different positions in the [WO4] "clusters", suggesting the presence of lattice distortions.The Raman spectra showed ten active vibrational modes (2Ag, 5Bg e 3Eg) for the oxide, the FT-IR spectra exhibited a large absorption band situated at around in the regions of 796 cm-1 to 801 cm-1, which is associated to the W-O antisymmetric stretching vibrations into the [WO4] "clusters" and two bands in the regions of 436 cm-1 to 437 cm-1related to bending vibrations. The ultraviolet-visible absorption measurements evidenced the variation of optical band gap values in range from 5.35 to 5.39 eV.

calcium tungstate; scheelite; coprecipitation