Li Wei, Liang Xiaoliang, An Pengfei, Feng Xionghan, Tan Wenfeng, Qiu Guohong, Yin Hui, Liu Fan
Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtse River) Ministry of Agriculture, College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, PR China.
CAS Key Laboratory of Mineralogy and Metallogeny, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, PR China.
Sci Rep. 2016 Oct 27;6:35960. doi: 10.1038/srep35960.
Al substitution in hematite is ubiquitous in soils. With the increase of Al amount, the hematite morphology changes from rhombohedral crystals to disk-shaped ones, but the underlying mechanism is poorly understood. Herein, a series of Al-substituted hematite were synthesized and characterized by synchrotron X-ray diffraction (SXRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), high resolution electron transmission microscopy (HRTEM) and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy, to investigate the effects of Al substitution on the hematite structure and morphology. EXAFS and Rietveld structural refinement analyses find an increase in face-sharing (along c axis) Fe-Me (Me = Al, Fe) distances, edge-sharing (in a-b plane) Fe-Me (Me = Al, Fe) distances, and O-O average distances. Moreover, the face-sharing Fe-Me distances and O-O distances along c axis increase more significantly. This indicates a more apparent decrease in the reticular densities of Fe and O along the direction of c axis, which facilitates faster crystal growth along c axis and results in the evolution of morphology of Al-substituted hematite to disk-shaped crystals. The above results provide new insights into the morphology changes and environmental geochemistry behaviors of Al-contained hematite in soils, and are benefit for the control of crystal morphologies during its application as environmentally-friendly materials.
土壤中赤铁矿的铝替代现象普遍存在。随着铝含量的增加,赤铁矿的形态从菱面体晶体转变为盘状晶体,但其潜在机制尚不清楚。在此,合成了一系列铝替代赤铁矿,并通过同步辐射X射线衍射(SXRD)、场发射扫描电子显微镜(FESEM)、高分辨率电子透射显微镜(HRTEM)和扩展X射线吸收精细结构(EXAFS)光谱对其进行表征,以研究铝替代对赤铁矿结构和形态的影响。EXAFS和Rietveld结构精修分析发现,共面(沿c轴)的Fe-Me(Me = Al、Fe)距离、共边(在a-b平面)的Fe-Me(Me = Al、Fe)距离以及O-O平均距离均增加。此外,沿c轴的共面Fe-Me距离和O-O距离增加更为显著。这表明沿c轴方向Fe和O的网状密度明显降低,这有利于沿c轴更快地晶体生长,并导致铝替代赤铁矿形态演变为盘状晶体。上述结果为土壤中含铝赤铁矿的形态变化和环境地球化学行为提供了新的见解,有助于在其作为环境友好材料应用过程中控制晶体形态。