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Rietveld refinement of the crystal structures of Rb2 XSi5O12 (X = Ni, Mn).

ABSTRACT: The synthetic leucite silicate framework mineral analogues Rb2 XSi5O12 {X = Ni [dirubidium nickel(II) penta-silicate] and Mn [dirubidium manganese(II) penta-silicate]} have been prepared by high-temperature solid-state synthesis. The results of Rietveld refinements, using X-ray powder diffraction data collected using Cu Kα X-rays, show that the title compounds crystallize in the space group Pbca and adopt the cation-ordered structure of Cs2CdSi5O12 and other leucites. The structures consist of tetra-hedral SiO4 and XO4 units sharing corners to form a partially substituted silicate framework. Extraframework Rb(+) cations sit in channels in the framework. All atoms occupy the 8c general position for this space group. In these refined structures, silicon and X atoms are ordered onto separate tetra-hedrally coordinated sites (T-sites). However, the Ni displacement parameter and the Ni-O bond lengths suggest that for the X = Ni sample, there may actually be some T-site cation disorder.

SUBMITTER: Bell AM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4770953 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:This study aims to solve the site-occupancy issues of any crystalline substance, showing that the structure refinement results should not be limited to a simple description of the crystal geometry but should go beyond that, providing refined site-scattering values consistent with the chemical data. A detailed description of the structure of the amphibole-supergroup minerals is very challenging owing to their complex chemical composition that renders the process of cation partition extremely difficult, particularly because of the occurrence of multivalent elements. Since amphiboles naturally occur under a fibrous morphology and have largely been used to produce asbestos, there is a growing demand for detailed and accurate structural data in order to study the relationships between structure, composition and toxicity. The present study proposes a recommended refinement procedure for both X-ray single-crystal structure refinement (SREF) and Rietveld analysis for tremolite, selected as a test case. The corresponding structural results are compared to estimate the ‘degree of confidence’ of the Rietveld refinement with regard to SREF. In particular, it is shown that the interpretation of the electron density of the tremolite structure by SREF is model dependent. By assuming that the site-scattering values from SREF should be as close as possible to those from electron microprobe analysis, as a crucial constraint for the correct description of the final crystal-chemical model, it is found that it is best satisfied by using partially ionized scattering curves (SCs) for O and Si, and neutral SCs (neutral oxygen curves or NOCs) for other atoms. This combination leads to the best fit to the diffraction data. Moreover, it is found that Rietveld refinement using NOCs produces the best structural results, in excellent agreement with SREF. It is worth noting that, due to the complexity of the diffraction pattern and the fairly large number of freely refinable parameters, refinements with different combinations of SCs produce results almost indistinguishable from a statistical point of view, albeit showing significant differences from a structural point of view.

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Rietveld refinement of the crystal structures of Rb2 XSi5O12 (X = Ni, Mn).

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