Nano-scale synthesis of the complex silicate minerals forsterite and enstatite

Lawrence M. Anovitz, Adam J. Rondinone, Lindsay Sochalski-Kolbus, Jörgen Rosenqvist, Michael C. Cheshire

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

Olivine is a relatively common family of silicate minerals in many terrestrial and extraterrestrial environments, and is also useful as a refractory ceramic. A capability to synthesize fine particles of olivine will enable additional studies on surface reactivity under geologically relevant conditions. This paper presents a method for the synthesis of nanocrystalline samples of the magnesium end-member, forsterite (Mg2SiO4) in relatively large batches (15–20 g) using a sol-gel/surfactant approach. Magnesium methoxide and tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) are refluxed in a toluene/methanol mixture using dodecylamine as a surfactant and tert-butyl amine and water as hydrolysis agents. This material is then cleaned and dried, and fired at 800 °C. Post-firing reaction in hydrogen peroxide was used to remove residual organic surfactant. X-ray diffraction showed that a pure material resulted, with a BET surface area of up to 76.6 m2/g. The results of a preliminary attempt to use this approach to synthesize nano-scale orthopyroxene (MgSiO3) are also reported.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)94-101
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Colloid and Interface Science
Volume495
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 1 2017

Keywords

  • Clinopyroxene
  • Enstatite
  • Forsterite
  • Nanosynthesis
  • Olivine
  • Orthopyroxene
  • Pyroxene

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