Single-crystal X-ray diffraction study of synthetic sodium-hydronium jarosite

摘要

Na-H3O jarosite was synthesized hydrothermally at 413 K for 8 days and investigated using singlecrystal X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron microprobe analysis (EMPA). The chemical composition of the studied crystal is [Na-0.57(3) (H3O)(0.36) (H2O)(0.07)](A) Fe-2.93(3) (SO4)(2) (OH)(5.70) (H2O)(0.30), and Fe deficiency was confirmed by both EMPA and XRD analysis. The single-crystal XRD data were collected at 298 and 102 K, and crystal structures were refined in space group R (3) over barm. The room-temperature data match structural trends of the jarosite group, which vary linearly with the c axis. The low-temperature structure at 102 K shows an anisotropic decrease in the unit cell parameters, with c and a decreasing by 0.45 and 0.03 %, respectively. Structural changes are mainly confined to the A site environment. Only minor changes occur in FeO6 and SO4 polyhedra. The structure responds upon cooling by increasing bond length distortion and by decreasing quadratic elongation of the large AO(12) polyhedra. The structural parameters at low temperature follow very similar patterns to structural changes that correspond to compositional variation in the jarosite group, which is characterised by the flexibility of AO(12) polyhedra and rigidity of Fe(OH)(4)O-2-SO4 layers. The most flexible areas in the jarosite structure are localized at AO(12) edges that are not shared with neighbouring FeO6 octahedra. Importantly, for the application of XRD in planetary settings, the temperature-related changes in jarosite can mimic compositional change.