ELECTRICAL-PROPERTIES AND PHASE-TRANSITIONS IN ANTIMONY SODIUM TARTRATE

The electrical properties including the resistance, dielectric constant, and pyroelectric current behaviour from room temperature up to 120-degrees-C are studied for the antimony sodium tartrate (AST), SbONaC4H4O6. According to the accurate measurements of the above mentioned parameters, it seems likely that this compound undergoes two structural phase transitions expressed by AST(III) almost-equal-to 70-degrees-C AST(II) almost-equal-to 100-degrees-C AST(I). The values of the activation energies for the three phases are calculated. The possibility of the existence of a ferroelectric phase transition around 70-degrees-C is ruled out, since the Sawer-Tower test is negative. The DTA thermogram is used to confirm the observed phase transitions. The data are correlated to the onset of rotational motion of the tartrate ions similar to other tartrate salts.