Growth and characterization of struvite crystals

Abstract

Struvite or ammonium magnesium phosphate hexahydrate (AMP) containing urinary stones are infection stones associated with urea splitting organisms, which are more common in women. Struvite crystals having different morphologies were grown by single diffusion gel growth technique in silica gel. The crystals were characterized by powder XRD, FT-IR, TGA and dielectric study. Kinetic and thermodynamic parameters were evaluated from thermogram. Dielectric study showed that the value of dielectric constant is found to decrease as the frequency increased. The ac resistivity and ac conductivity were also evaluated at different frequency.