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The Canadian Mineralogist; June 2007; v. 45; no. 3; p. 457-469; DOI: 10.2113/gscanmin.45.3.457
© 2007 Mineralogical Association of Canada
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Articles

THE ATOMIC STRUCTURE AND HYDROGEN BONDING OF DEUTERATED MELANTERITE, FeSO4·7D2O

Jennifer L. Anderson1,§, Ronald C. Peterson1 and Ian P. Swainson2

1 Department of Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, Canada
2 Neutron Program for Materials Research, National Research Laboratory, Chalk River, Ontario K0J 1J0, Canada

§ E-mail address: anderson{at}geoladm.geol.queensu.ca


   ABSTRACT
Top
 Abstract
Introduction
 Dehydration Pathways and the...
 Diffraction Experiments and...
 Discussion
 Summary
 Aknowledgements
 References
 
The atomic structure of synthetic, deuterated melanterite (FeSO4·7D2O), a 14.0774(9), b 6.5039(4), c 11.0506(7) Å, ß 105.604(1)°, space group P21/c, Z = 4, has been refined from the combined refinement of 2.3731(1) Å and 1.3308 Å neutron powder-diffraction data to a Rwp(tot) = 3.01% and Rp(tot) = 2.18%. Both the short- and long-wavelength data were required to obtain a satisfactory fit in the Rietveld refinement. The results of this study confirm the previously proposed H-bonding scheme for melanterite. Small but significant variations of the Fe–O bond lengths are attributed to details of the hydrogen bonds to the oxygen atoms of the Fe octahedra. We draw comparisons between the monoclinic and orthorhombic heptahydrate sulfate minerals associated with mine wastes and relate differences in the structure to strengths and weaknesses in their H-bond networks.

Keywords: deuterated melanterite, hydrogen bonding, mine waste, sulfate minerals, crystal structure, neutron diffraction, epsomite.


   INTRODUCTION
Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
Dehydration Pathways and the...
 Diffraction Experiments and...
 Discussion
 Summary
 Aknowledgements
 References
 
Melanterite (FeSO4·7H2O) is an oxidation-hydration by-product of sulfides. It commonly crystallizes from solution in areas where acid mine-waters become saturated in sulfate and Fe2+. The melanterite structure is able to accommodate significant amounts of Cu, Zn (Peterson 2003a, Jambor 1994) and Mg (Peterson et al. 2006), and the degree of substitution is known to contribute to changes observed in the dehydration pathway of the mineral (Anderson & Peterson 2005). We present here the results of a structural investigation of deuterated melanterite.


   DEHYDRATION PATHWAYS AND THE IMPORTANCE OF HYDROGEN BONDING
Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Dehydration Pathways and the...
Diffraction Experiments and...
 Discussion
 Summary
 Aknowledgements
 References
 
In the present study, we provide a detailed description of H-bonding in melanterite for comparison with the network of H-bonds in the group of orthorhombic heptahydrate sulfate minerals and products of dehydration with the general formula M2+SO4·nH2O. The melanterite group comprises monoclinic heptahydrate minerals of the general formula M2+SO4·7H2O; M2+ = Fe, Cu, Co, Mg, Mn. A second group of heptahydrate minerals, the epsomite group [M2+SO4·7H2O; M2+ = Mg, Zn, Ni], has an orthorhombic structure. Although minerals of the epsomite and melanterite groups are not isostructural, many products of their dehydration are isostructural (Fig. 1). End-member melanterite dehydrates to the four-hydrate rozenite FeSO4·4H2O, whereas Cu-substituted melanterite is known to dehydrate to siderotil (Fe,Cu)SO4·5H2O (Fig. 1) (Anderson et al. 2002, Jambor & Traill 1963, Peterson 2003b).


Figure 1
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  		FIG. 1. Schematic diagram, with mineral names and formulae, showing the reversible hydration–dehydration phase changes that have been documented in M2+–SO4–H2O systems. Documented phase-changes are indicated by double headed arrows, and only the two minerals at arrow heads are involved in the hydration–dehydration reaction. Pathways may differ with metal substitution, changes in acidity, relative humidity, temperature or sample history.

 
This investigation of the atomic structure and hydrogen bonding in melanterite complements earlier studies of the atomic structure (Baur 1967, Fronczek et al. 2001). Recently, the phase-stability behavior of melanterite and its dehydration products has been investigated by humidity-buffer methods (Anderson & Peterson 2005, Chou et al. 2002) and X-ray diffraction in a temperature- and relative-humidity-controlled environmental chamber (Peterson & Grant 2005).

Previous reports of the atomic structure of melanterite have included H-positions that were calculated (Baur 1967), or measured from single-crystal X-ray-diffraction data (Fronczek et al. 2001). In this study, the atomic structure and H-bonding of melanterite were refined in a combined refinement using long- and short-wavelength neutron-diffraction data. The data used in the following refinement were collected during a span of beam time granted to collect data for several hydrous sulfate minerals. Some of these minerals are dehydration products of melanterite- and epsomite-group minerals and, therefore, would not be suitable for single-crystal diffraction experiments.


   DIFFRACTION EXPERIMENTS AND RIETVELD REFINEMENT
Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Dehydration Pathways and the...
 Diffraction Experiments and...
Discussion
 Summary
 Aknowledgements
 References
 
Synthesis

Translucent green crystals of melanterite were synthesized at room temperature (22°C) in an air-tight glove box from a solution of reagent grade FeSO4·7H2O (Fisher I146) and 0.1 M D2SO4 (prepared from D2O (AECL ZX098) and D2SO4 (C/D/N Isotopes Inc. D–39)). The reagent was dissolved completely in the dilute D2SO4 acid, and the solution was decanted into a shallow dish in a glove box. A strong desiccant (LiBr, Fisher L1117), was placed in the glove box to increase evaporation of the ferrous sulfate solution. The newly synthesized melanterite was redissolved in 0.1 M D2SO4, and the process repeated several times. The D:H ratio of a subsample of melanterite was measured qualitatively by infrared spectroscopy (IR) after each synthesis (Nicolet Avatar 320 Fourier–Transform IR with Golden Gate diamond-attenuated total internal reflection). Synthesis was repeated until the IR spectrum of melanterite showed a maximum D2O:H2O peak-height ratio. The final D:H ratio of the powder was measured by refinement of the occupancy factor of the proton sites (see Structure Refinement).

The synthesized crystals are euhedral, vitreous, 1–5 mm in diameter, and they display the crystal forms of a monoclinic prism and parallelohedron. Crystals intended for the neutron experiment were powdered, stored in a chamber of 69% relative humidity at 22°C, buffered by a saturated solution of KI in D2O (Greenspan 1977). The sample was sealed in a vanadium sample can for the neutron-diffraction experiment with soft malleable indium wire to prevent dehydration or H – D exchange of the sample during data collection.

Diffraction experiments

Powder neutron-diffraction data for melanterite were collected at room temperature using the Dualspec C2 high-resolution constant-wavelength powder diffractometer of the NRU reactor at Chalk River Laboratories (Neutron Program for Materials Research (NPMR), Chalk River, Ontario, Canada). As a consequence of the space group and relatively large unit-cell volume of melanterite [974.5(1) Å3], there is a large number of peaks in the diffraction dataset. The ability to resolve these peaks is compromised by the inherently broad peaks of the neutron-diffraction pattern. A neutron wavelength of 2.3731(1) Å was selected to minimize peak overlap and the broad line-shape that would result from the high density of melanterite peaks if a refinement were to be attempted with a shorter-wavelength neutron beam. This long-wavelength dataset was used in an accurate refinement of the unit-cell parameters of melanterite. The inclusion of a 1.3308 Å dataset with 1796 observations helps to compensate for the number of observations sacrificed by using a longer-than-normal wavelength of neutrons with only 738 observations. The combined refinement of the melanterite structure, using long- and short-wavelength data, resulted in the successful refinement of unit-cell parameters, atom positions, displacement parameters and site occupancies.

Powder neutron-diffraction data were collected over a scattering range of 20 to 100° 2{theta}. The wavelengths of the neutron beam were calibrated in a separate experiment using the NIST standard Si 640c. The short- and long-wavelength datasets were collected over a period of 12 and 6 hours, respectively.

Refinement of the structure

The atomic structure of melanterite, including the D,H positions, were refined by least-squares refinement in a combined histogram Rietveld analysis of 2.3731(1) Å and 1.3308 Å wavelength powder neutron-diffraction data using the General Structure Analysis Software (GSAS) (Larson & Von Dreele 2000). The initial refinement of background and unit-cell parameters included only the 2.3731(1) Å diffraction data. The starting model was based on the atom coordinates and calculated H-positions determined by X-ray diffraction (Baur 1967). Peak shape, atom coordinates, isotropic displacement parameters and constrained site-occupancies for D sites were refined successfully, in that order, with the inclusion of the 1.3308 Å data. The D atom dominates the scattering and, ideally, the position of non-D atoms would be better resolved with single-crystal data or neutron-diffraction data on a non-deuterated specimen. To compensate for this, the S – O bond lengths of the sulfate tetrahedron were restrained to 1.47 ± 0.02 Å, based on the well-known geometry of the sulfate tetrahedron in sulfate minerals (Hawthorne et al. 2000). The final contribution of this restraint to the total chi-squared value of the refinement was 7.9% (Table 1).


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  		TABLE 1. CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC DATA AND REFINEMENT RESULTS FOR MELANTERITE BY THE COMBINED HISTOGRAM NEUTRON POWDER-DIFFRACTION REFINEMENT

 
In this refinement, we make two assumptions; first, each proton site is fully occupied with a mixture of D and H, and secondly, each site has the same D:H ratio, i.e., partitioning between crystallographically distinct proton sites does not occur. The site-occupancy values of each D site reflect the combined scattering-length of D and H at that site. Hydrogen, with a negative scattering length of –3.742(1) fm, will reduce the nuclear scattering of a site that is modeled to be fully occupied by D, with a scattering length of 6.674(6) fm. Given the coherent neutron-scattering lengths, the measured site-occupancy may be recalculated to obtain the D:H ratio of the proton sites (Table 2).


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  		TABLE 2. ATOM COORDINATES, EQUIVALENT ISOTROPIC-DISPLACEMENT PARAMETERS AND SITE-OCCUPANCY FACTORS FOR DEUTERATED MELANTERITE, (FeSO4·7D2O)

 
The final least-squares cycle yielded a final Rwp = 3.01%, Rp = 2.18% for the combined refinement (Table 1) and the observed and difference profiles are presented in Figure 2. The atom coordinates as determined by the combined refinement are presented in Table 2.


Figure 2
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  		FIG. 2. Neutron-diffraction patterns of deuterated melanterite, {lambda} = 1.3308 and 2.3731 Å. Observed data are shown as crosses, the fitted model as a straight line, and the difference (obs.–calc.) is displayed below.

 

   DISCUSSION
Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Dehydration Pathways and the...
 Diffraction Experiments and...
 Discussion
Summary
 Aknowledgements
 References
 
Melanterite FeSO4·7H2O, is monoclinic and crystallizes in the space group P21/c, with a 14.0774(9), b 6.5039(4), c 11.0506(7) Å, ß 105.604(1)°, Z = 4. From the literature, we know that minerals of the melanterite group (M2+ = Co, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Zn) consist of a sulfate tetrahedron, two crystallographically distinct M2+ atoms in octahedral coordination, with six H2O groups forming the coordination sphere of each M2+ atom and one interstitial H2O molecule that is not a direct ligand of an M2+ atom (Baur 1967, Fronczek et al. 2001). There are 14 unique H-bonds in the melanterite structure linking M1 octahedra to M2 octahedra via the sulfate tetrahedra, creating a flexible undulating layer of repeating SO4–M1–SO4–M2 polyhedra (Fig. 3). The first five H-bonds link the M1 and SO4 polyhedra within the layer in a pseudo-edge-sharing arrangement of bonds (Fig. 4). Likewise, the M2 and SO4 polyhedra are linked within the layer by two H-bonds in a pseudoedge- sharing arrangement and three H-bonds associated with the Ow7 H2O molecule (Fig. 4). The remaining four H-bonds, of the 14 H-bonds in melanterite, bridge the layer of polyhedra and must break for the mineral to cleave along (001) (Fig. 3).


Figure 3
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  		FIG. 3. Schematic representation of the atomic structure of melanterite (ATOMS 6.0, Dowty 1995). The undulating layer-structure parallel to the (001) perfect cleavage is illustrated here and is indicated by the dashed black line. Chains of M1 octahedra (green) are linked to chains of M2 octahedra (blue) via H-bonds to chains of sulfate tetrahedra (yellow), creating a layer of repeating chains of SO4–M1–SO4–M2 polyhedra. The interstitial H2O molecule is H-bonded between the M2 octahedra and the SO4 tetrahedra in the melanterite structure. The layer structure is bridged by four unique H-bonds per formula unit.

 

Figure 4
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  		FIG. 4. Details of the M–SO4–M polyhedron linkages within the layer structure of minerals in the melanterite and epsomite groups (ATOMS 6.0). (a) The M1 octahedra in melanterite-group minerals are linked to the SO4 tetrahedra in a pseudo-edge- and face-sharing arrangement of H-bonds. (b) The M2 and SO4 polyhedra in melanterite-group minerals are linked via the interstitial H2O molecule and a pseudo-edge-sharing arrangement of H-bonds. (c) In epsomite-group minerals, six of the seven H-bonds within the layer structure are linked in a pseudo-edge-sharing arrangement between the M2+ octahedra and SO4 tetrahedra.

 
Previous work on the crystal structure of melanterite has shown that the M2 octahedron of the Fe2+ end-member deviates from ideal octahedral geometry (Baur 1967). This distortion from ideal octahedral geometry has been shown to increase with Cu-for-Fe substitution (Peterson 2003a). The distortion of octahedra is common among hydrated sulfates and is attributed to neighboring electrostatic effects communicated to the octahedra via H-bonds and where present, the square-planar distortion effects of Cu2+ (Strens 1966). The Fe–Ow bond lengths of octahedra in melanterite of this study range from 2.08(2) to 2.19(2) Å, with a mean value of 2.12(2) Å (Table 3). The longest of these bonds is Fe2–Ow6 of the M2 octahedron [2.19(2) Å]. The Ow6 H2O molecule is the only coordinated H2O molecule in melanterite to receive an H-bond from a neighboring H2O molecule. The Fe2–Ow6 bond lengthens to compensate for the increased bond-valence sum received by Ow6 as a result of the additional H-bond received from Ow7.


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  		TABLE 3. SELECTED BOND-LENGTHS (Å) AND ANGLES (°) FOR MELANTERITE AS DETERMINED BY THE COMBINED HISTOGRAM NEUTRON POWDER-DIFFRACTION REFINEMENT

 
The H76 atom is equally likely to be H-bonded to Ow6 at 2.38(2) Å and O3 at 2.38(3) Å, as originally suggested by calculated and refined H-positions (Baur 1967, Fronczek et al. 2001). Although these H-bonds are the longest of the H-bonds in the structure, they are still within the range recognized in crystalline hydrates (<2.5 Å) (Ferraris & Franchini-Angela 1972, Fig. 5). Distances reported here plot significantly closer to the expected H–O and H...O values than the interatomic distances reported for the same bifurcated bond (Baur 1967, Fronczek et al. 2001, Kellersohn et al. 1991) (Fig. 5). The list of H-bonds presented in Table 3 includes all H–O distances less than 2.5 Å. The H-bond network of melanterite is represented schematically in Figure 6.


Figure 5
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  		FIG. 5. Plot of H–O and H-bond distances in the H2O molecule. Small closed circles and line of least-squares fit represent data from Ferraris & Franchini-Angela (1972). Small open circles represent data from the following papers: Angel & Finger (1988), Bacon & Titterton (1975), Bargouth & Will (1981), Baur (1962, 1964a, b, 1967), Baur & Rolin (1972), Blake et al.(2001), Calleri et al.(1984), Elerman (1988), Gerkin & Reppart (1988), Hawthorne et al.(1987), Held & Bohaty (2002), Iskhakova et al.(1991), Kellersohn (1992), Kellersohn et al.(1991), Ptasiewicz-Bak et al.(1993), Wildner & Giester (1991), Zahrobsky & Baur (1968), Zalkin et al. (1967). The solid circles and linear-regression line represent the birfurcated and non-bifurcated H-bonds from the survey of neutron-diffraction studies (Ferraris & Franchini-Angela 1972). Hydrogen bonds determined by X-ray diffraction are significantly shorter than those determined by neutron diffraction.

 

Figure 6
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  		FIG. 6. Schematic diagram of the network of H-bonds in melanterite, as determined by the combined-histogram powder neutron-diffraction refinement of deuterated melanterite, FeSO4·7D2O. The O–H distances (Å) are indicated by the dashed lines. Dotted lines represent H-acceptor bonds. This diagram is not to scale, and only represents the topology of the atomic linkages present in the structure. In melanterite, the apical H2O molecules (Ow6) of the M2 octahedra are the only two H2O molecules, within a M2+ coordination sphere, to receive additional H-bonds from neighboring H atoms. The Fe2–Ow6 bond lengthens to 2.169(10) Å to compensate for the reduced bond-valence due to this additional H-bond interaction.

 
Hydrous sulfate minerals of the general formula M2+SO4·nH2O (n = 6, 7) can be divided into two groups: minerals with only one distinct octahedral M site and minerals with two distinct octahedral sites, each of which lies on an inversion center (Table 4, Fig. 7). Hydrous metal sulfate minerals with two distinct octahedral M2+ sites are observed to accommodate a wider range M2+ substitution than those containing only one crystallographically distinct M site. The ability to substitute metals of different radii and electronic configuration is enhanced with two distinct metal sites, each with different local environments.


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  		TABLE 4. SUMMARY OF MINERAL GROUPS WITH THE GENERAL FORMULA (M2–SO4·nH2O, n = 6,7) CONTAINING 1 OR 2 CRYSTALLOGRAPHICALLY DISTINCT M SITES IN OCTAHEDRAL COORDINATION WITH 6 H2O GROUPS

 

Figure 7
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  		FIG. 7. Hydrogen bonding schemes for (a) orthorhombic heptahydrate structures of the epsomite group, (b) retgersite, a tetragonal hexahydrate, (c) monoclinic heptahydrate structures of the melanterite group, and (d) monoclinic hexahydrate minerals of the hexahydrite group. These diagrams show the distinction between the M2+ ions in octahedral coordination with six H2O molecules that receive two H bonds from external H2O molecules and those that receive three. Minerals of the general formula M2+SO4·nH2O, where n = 5, 4, 3, 1, contain octahedra formed by less than six H2O molecules and were not considered in this discussion.

 
Results of studies to test the extent of metal incorporation in M2+SO4·nH2O minerals corroborate the above statements. Goslarite, with one crystallographically distinct M site, is known to tolerate very limited substitution of Fe or Cu at 22°C (Anderson et al. 2005). Balarew & Karaivanova (1976) reported epsomite-group minerals to be stable in laboratory experiments at 25°C for crystal compositions of <3.20 wt.% FeSO4 in goslarite (Zn,Fe)SO4·7H2O, <0.05 wt.% CuSO4 in Cu-substituted goslarite (Zn,Cu)SO4·7H2O, and 2.30 wt.% Cu in Cu-substituted epsomite (Mg,Cu)SO4·7H2O. Descriptions of natural occurrences of the NiSO4·6H2O minerals indicate that nickelhexahydrite, with two crystallographically unique M sites, is able to tolerate more metal-substitution than retgersite, with only one crystallographically unique M site. Oleinikov et al.(1965) and Eliseev & Smirnova (1958) reported MgO + FeO + CuO values of 12.42, 5.32 and 6.4 wt.% in nickelhexahydrite crystals. No significant metal-substitution has been reported in retgersite.

Minerals of the melanterite group, having two crystallographically distinct M sites, are stable at 25°C with crystal compositions >34 mol.% Fe in the Zn–Fe system, <42 mol.% Cu in the Zn–Cu system, and >49 mol.% but <55 mol.% Cu in the Mg–Cu system at 25°C (Balarew & Karaivanova 1976). The name alpersite was recently approved for Mg-dominant minerals with the melanterite structure, the type specimen containing 58 mol.% Mg (Peterson et al. 2006). Little is known about site-specific substitution of metals in the hexahydrite group of minerals; however, the network of H-bonds surrounding the M2+ octahedra in the structure of the hexahydrite group shares some similarities with that of the melanterite-group structure. Both the melanterite- and hexahydrite-group structures contain two unique octahedral M sites, one accepting an additional H-bond and one that is ideal in that it donates 12 H-bonds and received no additional H-bonds.

Despite their differences, the monoclinic and orthorhombic heptahydrate structures share many physical properties. The heptahydrate minerals are easily dissolved in water, readily hydrated or dehydrated during small changes in temperature and relative humidity, and both have a perfect cleavage. The cleavage plane in both structures is parallel to the layer composed of M2+ octahedra linked via H-bonds to SO4 tetrahedra. This layer topology is present in melanterite parallel to (001) and in epsomite parallel to (010). The layer structures of the heptahydrate minerals are illustrated in Figures 4 and 8. In both structures, there are four unique H-bonds per formula unit (16 H-bonds per unit cell) that must be broken for the mineral to cleave along this surface.


Figure 8
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  		FIG. 8. Schematic representation of the (010) perfect cleavage in epsomite (ATOMS 6.0, Dowty 1995). The cleavage plane is indicated by a solid black undulating line. The H-bonds associated with the interstitial H2O molecule bridge the layers of octahedra linked to sulfate tetrahedra. This layer in epsomite has a tighter, more corrugated topology than the similar layer of the melanterite structure.

 
A closer look at the H-bond network within these layers and a comparison of the crystal structures of the monoclinic and orthorhombic heptahydrate minerals reveal an explanation for the differences in the ability of the two minerals structures to tolerate M2+ substitution.

The topology of the layer structures of melanterite- and epsomite-group minerals is similar in that each structure has 14 unique H-bonds. In both structures, there are 10 H-bonds within the layer structure and four H-bonds that bridge the layer and must be broken for the mineral to cleave. The interstitial H2O molecule is held within the layer of both structures by three H-bonds, with the fourth H-bond associated with the interstitial H2O molecule bridging the layer. The seven remaining H-bonds within the layer structures link the M2+ and SO4 polyhedra to each other. In epsomite, six of these seven H-bonds are arranged between the M2+ octahedron and SO4 tetrahedra in a pseudo-edge-sharing arrangement. In the layer structure of melanterite, the three H-bonds associated with Ow7 and bonded within the layer form a linkage between one M2 site and the next and do not interact with the M1 site. The only other H-bonds associated with the M2 site are the two in a pseudo-edge-sharing arrangement between M2 and SO4. The five remaining H-bonds, of the seven that link polyhedra within the melanterite layer, link the M1 octahedra to the SO4 tetrahedra via pseudo-face- and edge-sharing polyhedra.

Whereas both structures are H-bonded across the layer structure by four H-bonds, the M site in epsomite-group minerals is associated with three of these H-bonds and the fourth, as previously mentioned, is associated with the interstitial H2O molecule. In melanterite-group minerals, the M1 site contributes one of the four H-bonds that bridge the layer, the M2 site contributes two and the Ow7 contributes the last.

These differences between the two heptahydrate structures provide an explanation for differences in the wavelengths of the layers and the increased flexibility in the melanterite structure. This flexibility allows the mineral to accommodate an M2+ polyhedron occupied by different ions. The more compact linkage of H-bonds in epsomite-group minerals restricts the substitution of metals.


   SUMMARY
Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Dehydration Pathways and the...
 Diffraction Experiments and...
 Discussion
 Summary
Aknowledgements
 References
 
Melanterite is commonly the most abundant mineral in acid mine-waste systems and is known to accommodate significant amounts of M2+ substitution (Jambor 1994). The ability of the melanterite structure to tolerate more metal substitution than other sulfates is due to the presence of two distinct metal sites and details of the network of H-bonds between metal sites and adjacent polyhedra. The pseudo-face-sharing arrangement of H-bonds between the M1 and SO4 polyhedra and the H-bond interactions between the SO4 and M2 polyhedra, in melanterite, create flexibility of the structure. The melanterite structure is more amenable to incorporation of different metals, and each site may distort differently to accommodate different amounts of metal substitution. In hydrated sulfate minerals, the polyhedra within the structure are held together by a network of H-bonds. Depending on the details of this linkage, this network can provide the structure with both rigidity and flexibility.


   AKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Dehydration Pathways and the...
 Diffraction Experiments and...
 Discussion
 Summary
 Aknowledgements
References
 
We thank Alison Murray of the Program for Art Conservation, Department of Art at Queen’s University for use of the Nicolet ATR–IR spectrometer. The research staff at Chalk River Laboratories (NPMR) provided generous support and materials for this project. We thank George Lager, an anonymous referee and Bob Martin for their helpful comments on this manuscript. An NSERC discovery grant to RCP funded the research.


   REFERENCES
Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Dehydration Pathways and the...
 Diffraction Experiments and...
 Discussion
 Summary
 Aknowledgements
 References
 
ANDERSON, J.L. & PETERSON, R.C. (2005): Determination of sulfate mineral phase equilibria as a function of relative humidity. Intermediate compositions in the (Mg,Fe,Zn)SO4 – H2O system at 22°C. Geol. Assoc. Can. – Mineral. Assoc. Can., Program Abstr. 30, 4.

ANDERSON, J.L., PETERSON, R.C. & SWAINSON, I.P. (2002): Hydrogen bonding in melanterite. Int. Mineral. Assoc., 18th Gen. Meeting (Edinburgh), Abstr., 188.

ANDERSON, J.L., PETERSON, R.C. & SWAINSON, I.P. (2005): Combined neutron powder and X-ray single crystal diffraction refinement of the atomic structure and hydrogen bonding of goslarite (ZnSO4·7H2O). Mineral. Mag. 69, 257–269.

ANGEL, R.J. & FINGER, L.W. (1988): Polymorphism of nickel sulfate hexahydrate. Acta Crystallogr. C44, 1869–1873.[ISI]

BACON, G.E. & TITTERTON, D.H. (1975): Neutron diffraction studies of CuSO4·5H2O and CuSO4·5D2O. Z. Kristallogr. 141, 330–341.

BALAREW, V.C. & KARAIVANOVA, V. (1976): Isodimorphe Cokristallisation in Sulfatsystemen als Moglichkeit sur Voraussage der Existenz von Kristallhydraten des Typs MSO4·nH2O (M = Mn2+, Fe2+, Co2+, Ni2+, Cu2+, Zn2+, Cd2+). Z. Anorg. Allg. Chem. 422, 283–288.

BARGOUTH, M.O. & WILL, G. (1981): A neutron diffraction refinement of the crystal structure of tetragonal nickel sulfate hexahydrate. Int. Centre for Theoretical Physics: Rep., Trieste, Italy.

BAUR, W.H. (1962): Zur Kristallchemie der Salzhydrate. Die Kristallstukturen von MgSO4·4H2O (Leonhardtit) und FeSO4·4H2O (Rozenit). Acta Crystallogr. 15, 815–826.[CrossRef][ISI][GeoRef]

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Received April 14, 2006 ,revised manuscript accepted November 9, 2006.





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