Structural Modification of KAISiO4 Minerals

Kalsilite, a polymorph of KAISiO4 is an end member of nepheline-kalsilite series and the mineral was syn-thesized by hydorhermal methods. The synthetic kalsilite is hexagonal, P63, with a=5.151(5), c=8.690(8) A. The structure was refined by full-matrix least-squares methods to a R-value 0.084, using 373 observed reflections. The obtained structure agrees well with those of the natural and the alkali-exchanged specimens reported in the previous literatures. The oxygen atoms are disordered at two mirror-equivalent sites, constructing the domain structure. The average domain structure shows P63mc symmetry and the strctural relation between the two P63 structure corresponds to the twinning by merohedry. The domain structure was considered to be caused accompanied with the high-low inversion of the kalslite structure. Heating experiments of kalsilite reveal that the X-ray powder pattern changes at 865℃, and that cell dimensions vary discontinuously at this temperature. It was confirmed that kalsilite underwent a displacive transition like those observed in quartz or tridymite. The high-form is refered as 'high-kalsilite', and a possible simulate model is proposed. The structure of the high-kalsilite at 950℃ was refined byfull-matrix least-squares methods to a R-value 0.095, using 115 observed reflections. The high-kalsilite is also hexagonal, P63mc or P63/mmc, with a=5.288(1), c=8.628(5) A at 950℃. The structure almost prefectly coincides with that of the simulated model. Based on the interatomic distances, the distribution of silicon and aluminum atoms is found to be or-dered and the space group is determined to be P63mc. Kaliophilite and the related orthorhombic from, polymorphs of KAISiO4, were synthesized by dry method. The synthetic kaliophilite (kaliophilite-H2) is hexagonal with a=5.17(1), c=8.49(3) A, and the orthorhombic KAISiO4 (kaliophilite-O1) is orthormbic with a=9.01(1), b=15.60(2), c=8.53(4) A. Detailed examina-tion of the obtained powder patterns together with that of simulated model indicates that the kaliophilite-H2 has a disorderd structure of four types of the low-kalsilite. The structure was refined by the X-ray powder pattern-fitting method (Rietvelt method) to a R-value 0.121.