Quasielastic neutron scattering of brucite and the role of hydrogen defects for dehydration reaction

Abstract

Hydrogen diffusion may play a key role in dehydration processes of hydrous minerals. It has been desired to observe the dynamics of hydrogen cations or their vacancies moving within the structures of dehydrating minerals. Here we apply high-resolution quasielastic neutron scattering for analyzing time and distance scales of hydrogen diffusion in brucite at temperatures to 330 K. A very mobile nature of interstitial-type hydrogen and its potential role in dehydration are revealed and discussed.