The migration of interlayer Fe3+ cations into the structure of heated montmorillonite and Laponite has been studied by electron spin resonance (ESR), Mössbauer spectroscopy, and magnetic susceptibility measurements. The intensity of the ESR signal corresponding to interlayer Fe3+ in air-dried montmorillonite and Laponite increased linearly as the amount of interlayer Fe3+ increased. Changes in the spectra after thermal treatment indicate that Fe3+ cations migrated into the pseudohexagonal cavities of dehydrated montmorillonite and Laponite. The electrostatic interaction between the Fe3+ and the oxygen atoms defining the entrance to these cavities and the proton of the structural OH groups at the bottom of the cavities differ for the two smectites. Ferric cations were apparently bound more strongly within the pseudohexagonal cavities of the dehydrated montmorillonite than within the cavities of Laponite, because the montmorillonite did not rehydrate after heating. The differences in the binding of Fe3+ cations within the pseudohexagonal cavities of montmorillonite and Laponite were probably due to variations in the ability of the protons of the structural OH groups to reorient. An additional electronic interaction occurred in the heated Laponite, in which small cations were able to promote the formation of structural defects, which gave rise to a sharp ESR signal at g = 2.00. No evidence for the penetration of Fe3+ cations into the vacant octahedral sites of montmorillonite was found.

The 57Fe Mössbauer spectra of a series of untreated and Ca-saturated nontronites showed a predominant Fe3+ resonance which was computer-fitted with two Fe3+ doublets defining iron in non-equivalent cis-FeO4(OH)2 octahedral sites. In most spectra a doublet indicating tetrahedral Fe3+ was fitted and in one untreated sample a doublet indicating interlayer Fe3+ was identified. In a further untreated sample the interlayer iron was present as Fe2+. Upon Ca-saturation the interlayer iron was displaced. It also appears that the interlayer iron was present in at least two different interlayer sites. From the computer-fitted data it was clear that the interlayer cations have a significant effect on the Mössbauer resonances of iron in the two non-equivalent cis-octahedral and the tetrahedral sites of nontronite.

The 57Fe Mössbauer spectra of six nontronite samples were measured at appropriate temperatures of 4.2 and 1.3 K. Three of the nontronites gave a complex magnetic hyperfine spectrum showing magnetic ordering at 4.2 K, and the other three required a lower temperature of 1.3 K to produce similar magnetic ordering. The spectra were computer-fitted with three closely overlapping sextets which are considered to arise from: (1) Fe3+ that is ordered magnetically in the cis-octahedral sites with a greater number of neighboring tetrahedral Fe3+ ions (51 T); (2) the cis-octahedral site with the greater number of neighboring Si4+ ions (46 T); and (4) the tetrahedral sites (41 T). In an untreated sample a further sextet corresponding to interlayer Fe3+ (36 T) was identified. The magnetic ordering was complicated and not directly related to the iron content of these sites. It probably depended also on the overall composition and structural order of the particular nontronite. The ordering appears to have been essentially two-dimensional, consistent with the layer structure of this material.

The 57Fe Mössbauer spectra of untreated, Ca- and K-saturated nontronite from Garfield, Washington, were measured. The spectrum of the untreated sample was computer-fitted to 8 peaks defining two octahedral, a tetrahedral, and an interlayer Fe3+-quadrupole-split doublets. In the Ca- and K-saturated samples interlayer Fe was absent. Spectra of the untreated sample were recorded at increasing increments of background counts from 2.8 × 105 to 9.2 × 106. An evaluation of the initial 4- and 6-peak models and the acceptable 8-peak model, computer-fitted to each spectrum, shows that if the χ2 value is used as a measure of the goodness of the fit, the spectra should be recorded to a background count greater than 3 × 106. The resulting χ2 value then reflects both the validity of the model used and the extent of disorder within the structure. The χ2 value depends linearly on the background counts obtained.

A comparison of the spectra of the Ca- and K-saturated samples with that of the untreated sample shows that the interlayer cations exert a considerable influence on the individual component resonances, particularly the outer octahedral doublet. Hence, it is likely that electrostatic interactions of the nearby tetrahedral Fe3+ and the interlayer cations give rise to two distinct electric field gradients within neighboring cis-[FeO4(OH)2] sites, and hence two octahedral Fe3+ doublets in the Mössbauer spectrum. These results are consistent with earlier electron diffraction data in the literature.

The 57Fe Mössbauer spectra of an iron-rich montmorillonite, an illite, and two glauconites were measured and computer-fitted with appropriate Fe3+ and Fe2+ doublet resonances. The broad experimental Fe3+ resonance of montmorillonite probably arises from Fe3+ in the octahedral sites and a trans-arrangement of OH groups; however, a large variation in the neighboring environment of these sites exists. In illite this Fe3+ resonance is similar but shows less broadening; it arises from Fe3+ located predominantly in trans-OH octahedral sites, with some Fe3+ being located in cis-OH octahedral sites. Because of the increased iron content less variation exists, compared with montmorillonite, in the neighboring octahedral sites. The Fe3+ resonance is narrower still for the glauconites and represents Fe3+ substituting primarily into cis-OH octahedral sites, similar to that previously reported for nontronite.

The tetrahedral Fe3+ content is very low for montmorillonite and increases progressively for illite and glauconite, suggesting that a higher tetrahedral Fe3+ content directs Fe3+ in the octahedral layer into cis-OH sites. In montmorillonite, the Fe2+ is located only in trans-OH sites; in illite Fe2+ is largely in trans-OH sites and only slightly in cis-OH sites; and in glauconite, Fe2+ is located largely in cis-OH sites and only slightly in trans-OH sites. These assignments suggest that for Fe2-, the doublet with the larger quadrupole interaction arises from Fe2+ in trans-OH sites and the doublet with the smaller quadrupole interaction, from Fe2+ in cis-OH sites.

The 57Fe Mössbauer spectra of several montmorillonites, measured at room temperature and 453 K, showed a considerably broadened Fe3+ resonance which can be computer-fitted with a similarly broadened Fe3+ doublet. In some spectra, particularly if all linewidths were constrained to be equal, this broadened Fe3+ resonance was further resolved into overlapping inner and outer Fe3+ doublets, also having broad linewidths. In accordance with recent electron diffraction evidence, the assignment by previous workers of the inner doublet to Fe3+ in the octahedral sites having the cis-arrangement of OH groups and the outer doublet to the octahedral site having the trans-arrangement of OH groups is incorrect. Instead, the Fe3+ was found to be located largely in the trans-octahedral sites. Because of the relatively low iron content of the montmorillonite examined, the next and more distant neighboring-cation environment varied considerably about the octahedral Fe3+ ions. This variation produced a broadened experimental resonance, and the resulting two-doublet computer fits probably represent the mean extremes of a continuum of slightly different Fe3+ resonances arising from the variable nature of the environment surrounding these such trans-sites, rather than distinct cis- and trans-sites. In addition, a small resonance indicating the substitution of Fe3+ into the tetrahedral sites was observed. The interlayer species probably influenced the Mössbauer resonance of Fe3+ in the tetrahedral and octahedral sites.

57Fe Mössbauer spectra obtained at room temperature and 78 K for natural Mg-saturated, Ca-saturated, and benzidinium-intercalated vermiculite having a high tetrahedral iron content are presented. For all samples the spectra were computer-fitted with five overlapping doublets, representing Fe in both tetrahedral and octahedral sites. One doublet has parameters consistent with the weathered ilmenite known to be present as inclusions. For the intercalated vermiculite, the δ value of the doublet assigned to the tetrahedral Fe3+ increased with respect to the untreated sample, suggesting that the electron densities about the Fe sites had decreased following intercalation. A charge movement from the silicate layers towards the interlayer monovalent benzidinium ions is also implied. The direction of this charge movement is opposite to that found when blue monopositive radical cations form on montmorillonite surfaces. The Mössbauer evidence suggests the absence of an interlayer-Fe3+ complex.

Mössbauer spectroscopy obtained with the sample at low temperatures and subject to large magnetic fields is discussed in terms of its use in analysing the naturally occurring polymorphs of FeOOH and the common growth precursor, ferrihydrite. Experiments on well-characterized synthetic samples provided benchmark results. A relatively simple means of quantitative analysis was used, in which sextets of Voigtian-shaped lines were summed and least-squares fitted. The results are discussed in terms of the magnetic structures of each compound.

Five montmorillonites were analysed by 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy and their Fe3+ occupation in tetrahedral and octahedral sites assigned. The montmorillonites, with a range of IVFe3+ contents, were used in an attempt to correlate IVFe3+ content with VIFe3+cis- and trans-OH site occupation to verify the assertion that increasing IVFe3+ content directs VIFe3+ to cis-OH sites. However, VIFe3+ in montmorillonite appears to be located essentially in the trans-OH sites. The two doublets computer-fitted to the VIFe3+ Mössbauer resonance for montmorillonite appear to represent a distribution of a continuum of slightly different Fe3+ resonances, which arise from the variable atomic environment surrounding the VIFe3+ sites, rather than discrete cis- and trans-OH sites. Therefore Mössbauer spectroscopy cannot be used to demonstrate whether an increasing IVFe3+ content directs VIFe3+ substitution into particular sites for montmorillonites.

A comprehensive Mössbauer spectroscopic and X-ray diffraction study of six purified glauconites is presented. The Mössbauer spectra were computer-fitted with three Fe3+ and three Fe2+ doublets, both Fe species occupying the trans-OH and two cis-OH octahedral sites. In addition, a seventh smaller doublet is assigned to Fe3+ in tetrahedral coordination. It has been shown that an increasing IVFe3+ content directs VIFe3+ substitution to the cis-OH octahedrally coordinated sites. A correlation between the d(060) reflection and elemental composition is demonstrated.

The structures of orthorhombic (a=5.5686(2)Å, b=9.8946 (2)Å, c=3.19369(12Å) and cubic (a=9.177(3)Å) Cd2SnO4were refined by Rietveld analysis of X-ray powder diffraction patterns. Both of these polymorphs were chemically treated with hydrogen gas mixtures at 400°C, resulting in a colour change from yellow to green. Small structural changes were observed for the orthorhombic material, which underwent a uniform contraction (≈0.02%) of cell size and movement of some oxygen atoms towards the tin atoms. Evidence for loss of structural oxygen was sought, but could not be found above the detection limit of 0.3%. Cubic Cd2SnO4possesses the spinel structure with a large (at least 65%) degree of inversion. Samples prepared with a smaller cell have so far proved unsuitable for Reitveld analysis.