| Summary: | Pyrosmalite-(Fe), ideally FeII8Si6O15(OH,Cl)10 [refined composition in this study: Fe8Si6O15(OH0.814Cl0.186)10·0.45H2O, octairon(II) hexasilicate deca(chloride/hydroxide) 0.45-hydrate], is a phyllosilicate mineral and a member of the pyrosmalite series (Fe,Mn)8Si6O15(OH,Cl)10, which includes pyrosmalite-(Mn), as well as friedelite and mcgillite, two polytypes of pyrosmalite-(Mn). This study presents the first structure determination of pyrosmalite-(Fe) based on single-crystal X-ray diffraction data from a natural sample from Burguillos del Cerro, Badajos, Spain. Pyrosmalite-(Fe) is isotypic with pyrosmalite-(Mn) and its structure is characterized by a stacking of brucite-type layers of FeO6-octahedra alternating with sheets of SiO4 tetrahedra along [001]. These sheets consist of 12-, six- and four-membered rings of tetrahedra in a 1:2:3 ratio. In contrast to previous studies on pyrosmalite-(Mn), which all assumed that Cl and one of the four OH-groups occupy the same site, our data on pyrosmalite-(Fe) revealed a split-site structure model with Cl and OH occupying distinct sites. Furthermore, our study appears to suggest the presence of disordered structural water in pyrosmalite-(Fe), consistent with infrared spectroscopic data measured from the same sample. Weak hydrogen bonding between the ordered OH-groups that are part of the brucite-type layers and the terminal silicate O atoms is present.
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