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X-ray absorption spectroscopic studies of silicate glasses and minerals

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Abstract

Selected results of x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) studies of amorphous silicates and minerals are presented in order to show their utility in providing short-and, in certain cases, medium-range structural and bonding information for cations and anions. EXAFS and XANES studies of amorphous silicates are reviewed with the objective of illustrating variations in structural environments of the various types of glass-forming cations, including Si, Al, Na, K, Ca, Ti, Fe, Yb, and U. Al is shown to occur in tetrahedral coordination in all aluminosilicate glasses examined, including peraluminous compositions. The weakly bonded Na and Ca cations are shown to occur in sites with observed coordination numbers (ranging from 6 to 7) and distances similar to those predicted by molecular dynamics simulations. Elements like Ti, which form bonds of intermediate strength, may show some order beyond the first coordination shell at low concentrations in silicate glasses. EXAFS studies of Yb and U in silicate glasses at trace to minor concentration levels provide unique structural information about the environments of these cations. K-edges and XANES of transition element sulfides, third-row tetrahedral oxyanions, and oxygen in minerals are interpreted in terms of band theory or molecular orbital theory.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Mineralogie-Cristallographie, Universites de Paris 6 et 7, UA CNRS 09, 75230, Paris Cedex 05, France

    Georges Calas & Jacqueline Petiau

  2. School of Earth Sciences and Center for Materials Research, Stanford University, 94305, Stanford, CA, USA

    Gordon E. Brown Jr. & Glenn A. Waychunas

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  1. Georges Calas
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  2. Gordon E. Brown Jr.
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  3. Glenn A. Waychunas
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  4. Jacqueline Petiau
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Paper from Conference on quantum Theory and Experiment, July 1986

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Calas, G., Brown, G.E., Waychunas, G.A. et al. X-ray absorption spectroscopic studies of silicate glasses and minerals. Phys Chem Minerals 15, 19–29 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00307604

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