LOW Z-ELEMENTS (MG, AL, AND SI) K-EDGE X-RAY-ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY IN MINERALS AND DISORDERED-SYSTEMS

Soft X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy (XANES) and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy have been performed at the Mg-, Al- and Si-K edges in order to establish the ability of this spectroscopy to derive structural information in disordered solids such as glasses and gels. Mg- and Al-K XANES are good structural probes to determine the coordination state of these elements in important minerals, glasses and gels. In a CaO-MgO-2SiO(2) glass Mg XANES spectra differ from that found in the crystalline equivalent, with a significant shift of the edge maxima to lower energy, consistent with a CN lower than 6. Mg-EXAFS on the same sample are in agreement and indicate the presence of 5-coordinated Mg with Mg-O distances of 2.01 Angstrom. In aluminosilicate gels, Al-K XANES has been used to investigate the Al-[4]/Al-total ratios. These ratios increase as the Al/Si ratios decrease. Aluminosilicate and ferric-silicate gels were studied by using Si-K edge XANES. XANES spectra differ significantly among the samples studied. Aluminosilicate gels with Al/Si = 1 present a different Al and Si local environment from that known in clay minerals with the same Al/Si ratio. The gel-to-mineral transformation thus implies a dissolution-recrystallization mechanism. On the contrary, ferric-silicate gel presents a Si local environment close to that found in nontronite which may be formed by a long range ordering of the initial gels.