Distribution of impurity ions in MgO
6 octahedral and SiO
4 tetrahedral sheets in a natural sepiolite of Chinese origin was separately determined by chemical analysis. Sepiolite is a fibrous magnesia silicate with intramolecular tunnels along the fiber axis. The MgO
6 octahedra sheet is sandwiched between two sheets of SiO
4 tetrahedra. Sepiolite contains aluminum, iron, manganese and titanium ions as impurity ions. The aluminum content was larger in the SiO
4 sheet than in the MgO
6sheet, on the contrary, the iron content was larger in the MgO
6 sheet. A structural formula of the sepiolite is shown in the following scheme:
(Si
11.64 Al
0.31 Fe
0.05)(Mg
7.62 Al
0.02 Fe
0.35 Mn
trace Ti
trace) O
30 (OH)
4 (H
20)
4nH
2O.
Angular dependence of the resonant field of electron paramagnetic resonance (ESR) spectra for well oriented fibers of the sepiolite showed following spectra (1) a broad and smear peak centered at g=2.0 due to octahedral Fe
3+, (2) sextet resonance lines due to octahedral Mn
2+ superposed on it, (3) resolved peaks at g=4.3 due to tetrahedral Fe
3+. The well oriented SiO
2 residue could be obtained by removing MgO
6 sheet from sepiolite with treatment of mixed solution of HNO
3 and HCl. The well oriented SiO
2 residue showed a clear resolved spectrum pattern at g=4.3. When the fiber axis of the sample was set perpendicular or parallel to the applied magnetic field, it's ESR spectra showed different line shapes. Peak at g=2.0 however was not observed. The substitutions of Si
4+ and Mg
2+ with Fe
3+ were confirmed by anisotropic ESR spectra of Fe
3+ in sepiolite and in the SiO
2 residue. An excess of electrons in SiO
4 sheet is generated by substitution of Si
4+ with Al
3+ or Fe
3+. On the other hand, a deficiency of electrons in MgO
6 sheet is generated by the substitution of Mg
2+ with Al
3+ or Fe
3+. A deficiency of electrons in the MgO
6 may be compensated by an excess of electrons in the SiO
4 sheet.
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