Cobalt selenate pentahydrate: Thermal decomposition intermediates and their properties dependence on temperature changes

Several new materials based on selenates and selenites have been produced, characterized and their application have exhibited good results in several areas. As consequence, some selenates/selenites that had been synthetized in the past have been better characterized aiming to provide more information about their properties to be applied. Thus, this work aims to provide a deep investigation about cobalt selenate pentahydrate focusing in its thermal behavior and in the properties of its thermal intermediates. To achieve this goal were used Simultaneous Thermogravimetry-Differential Thermal Analysis and Differential Scanning Calorimetry were used to determine the thermal properties; Furthermore, X-ray Powder Diffraction helped to confirm the crystallographic phase of each one and the morphological properties were studied using Scanning Electronic Microscopy. Lastly, the Ultra Violet-Visible/Near infrared spectroscopy together with the microscopy-Differential Scanning Calorimetry results elucidated the effect of the electronical changes on observed color. All these changes were related to the temperature.