27Al magic-angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance satellite transition spectroscopy of glasses in the system K2O-Al2O3-SiO2.

27Al magic-angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance satellite transition spectroscopy at 78 MHz has been applied to determine (true) chemical shift and quadrupole coupling parameters of glasses in the system K2O-Al2O3-SiO2 with 60-80 mol% SiO2 and K2O concentrations between 0 and 24 mol%. The powdered crystalline aluminosilicates andalusite and sillimanite have also been examined. In the glasses, all Al appears to be tetrahedrally bound in the aluminosilicate network unless x = mol% K2O:mol% Al2O3 becomes extremely small. Upon decreasing x the distortion of the tetrahedral Al(OSi)4 units increases in steps, and possible explanations are discussed. Six-coordinated aluminum observed for x < 0.2 is connected with the occurrence of interstitial Al3+ ions which charge-compensate the AlO4 units in addition to K+.