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BaCO3: high-temperature crystal structures and the Pmcn→R3m phase transition at 811°C

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Abstract

The temperature (T) evolution of the barium carbonate (BaCO3) structure was studied using Rietveld structure refinements based on synchrotron X-ray diffraction and a powdered synthetic sample. BaCO3 transforms from an orthorhombic, Pmcn, α phase to a trigonal, R3m, β phase at 811°C. The orthorhombic BaCO3 structure is isotypic with aragonite, CaCO3. In trigonal R3m BaCO3, the CO3 group occupies one orientation and shows no rotational disorder. The average <Ba–O> distances increase while the <C–O> distances decrease linearly with T in the orthorhombic phase. After the 811°C phase transition, the <Ba–O> distances increase while C–O distances decrease. There is also a significant volume change of 2.8% at the phase transition.

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Acknowledgments

This research was carried out in part at the National Synchrotron Light Source, Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), which is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Division of Materials Sciences and Division of Chemical Sciences, under Contract No. DE-AC02-98CH10886. We thank J. C. Hanson for his help in performing the synchrotron experiments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, 60439, USA

    Sytle M. Antao

  2. Department of Chemistry, University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston 7, Jamaica

    Ishmael Hassan

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  1. Sytle M. Antao
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  2. Ishmael Hassan
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Correspondence to Sytle M. Antao.

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Antao, S.M., Hassan, I. BaCO3: high-temperature crystal structures and the Pmcn→R3m phase transition at 811°C. Phys Chem Minerals 34, 573–580 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00269-007-0172-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00269-007-0172-8

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