The crystal structure of stilpnomelane. Part II. The full cell

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Summary: The structural formula of stilpnomelane averaged from 37 representative literature analyses and based on the determined structure is (Ca,Na,K)4(Ti0·1Al2·3Fe35·5Mn0·8Mg9·3)[Si63Al9](O,OH)216·nH2O. Ferrostilpnomelanes have up to 12 R3+ cations in the octahedral sheet, ferristilpnomelanes commonly have between 24 and 30 R3+ cations, rarely up to 37. The two groups can be distinguished by accurate X-ray powder diffraction, ferrostilpnomelanes having d001 less and a greater than have ferristilpnomelanes. The unit cell is triclinic, a = b∼21·8 Å, γ = 120°, d001∼12·2 Å, P. Hexagonal groups or ‘islands’ of 24 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra co-ordinate to the octahedral sheet, the centres of the ‘islands’ are displaced by 5a/12, 8b/12 on either side of the octahedral sheet as a result of warping of this sheet to permit articulation with the smaller tetrahedral sheet. The 24-tetrahedra ‘islands’ are linked laterally by 6-member rings of inverted tetrahedra, which in turn link at their apices to like rings connecting the next sheet of ‘islands’. Thus a single tetrahedral layer is 4 tetrahedra thick and has symmetry 6/m. The 6-member rings of tetrahedra act as hinges permitting up to 0·5 Å extension or contraction of the tetrahedral sheet to accommodate variations in the octahedral sheet dimensions with varying R2+/R3+ ratio.

This publication has 9 references indexed in Scilit: