Hydrothermal synthesis and characterization of non-linear optic potassium pentaborate(KB5)

Abstract

Alkali metal borates having outstanding pyhsical properties have drawn much concern, both theoretically and experimentally. Potassium pentaborate stands out of such borates owing to usage of non-linear optics(NLO) [1]. The reason why the alkali metal borates display non-linear optical properties is the various coordination possibilities of boron atom [2]. In addition to NLO properties, KB5 can be also used as a film to prevent oxidation, cover fluxes, flame retardant and inhibition of cements [3]. KB5 can be synthesized more easily than the common NLO materials ADP and KDP [4,5]. A number of research articles have been published in the literature discussing the growth and NLO properties of KB5 crystals [6-10]. We synthesized potassium pentaborate tetrahydrate (ICDD: 25-624) by hydrothermal method in a short time using KOH and H3BO3 as raw materials. The synthesized material was characterization by powder X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermo gravimetric/differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA).