Abstract
Light-induced degradation in realgar (arsenic sulfide) has been studied by means of four-circle single-crystal X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Because of the alteration of realgar exposed to light, the a lattice parameter and c sinβ value increase linearly from 9.327 to 9.385 Å and fro|m 6.320 to 6.364 Å, respectively. In contrast, the b lattice parameter remains substantially constant. Anisotropic variations of the lattice parameters engender a continuous increase of the unit-cell volume from 799.5 to 810.4 Å3. Nevertheless, no correlation exists between the continuous increase of the unit-cell volume and the bond distance variations in As4S4 molecules because the As4S4 molecule in the unit cell expands very little during light exposure. The most pronounced change was in the distance between centroids UiAs4S4 cages. The spread of As4S4 intermolecular distances increases continuously from 5.642 to 5.665 Å, which directly affects the unit-cell volume expansion of realgar. In addition, the O1s peak increases rapidly after light exposure. The result substantiates the following reaction proposed by Biudi et al. (2003): 5As4S4 + 3O2 -> 4As4S5 + 2As2O5. That is, realgar is transformed into pararealgar if oxygen exists and produces the As4S5 molecule. The additional S atom contributes to anisotropic expansion for the a and c axes because the direction of the additional S atom points toward [41̅4] in the unit cell. Furthermore, an S atom in the As4S5 molecule is released from one of the equivalent As-S-As linkages in As4S5 which becomes the As4S4 molecular of pararealgar. After the As4S5 molecule is divided into an S atom (radical) and the As4S4 (pararealgar type) molecule, the free S atom is re-attached to another As4S4 (realgar type) molecule, and reproduces an As4S5 molecule. The reproduced As4S5 molecule is again divided into an S atom (radical) and an As4S4 (pararealgar type) molecule. This cycle whereby realgar is indirectly transformed into pararealgar via the As4S5 molecule is promoted by light and repeated during light exposure.
© 2015 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
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Articles in the same Issue
- Presidential Address To The Mineralogical Society Of Amrica, Boston, November 6, 2001: Some Precambrian Banded Iron-Formations (BiIFs) From Around The World: Their Age, Geologic Setting, Mineralogy, Metamorphism, Geochemistry, And Origin
- Effects of high pressure and high temperature on cation ordering in magnesioferrite, MgFe2O4, using in situ synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction up to 1430 K and 6 GPa
- Raman spectroscopy and vibrational analyses of albite: From 25 °C through the melting temperature
- A new occurrence of xitieshanite [Fe3+(SO4)Cl⋅6H2O] crystals in acid-mine seepways, Green Valley, Vigo County, Indiana, U.S.A.
- Effect of A-site cation radius on ordering of BX6 octahedra in (K,Na)MgF3 perovskite
- Crystal chemistry of NaMgF3 perovskite at high pressure and temperature
- Hyperfine electric field gradient tensors at Fe2+ sites in octahedral layers: Toward understanding oriented single-crystal Mössbauer spectroscopy measurements of micas
- Does the bazhenovite structure really contain a thiosulfate group? A structural and spectroscopic study of a sample from the type locality
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- Absolute quantification by powder X-ray diffraction of complex mixtures of crystalline and amorphous phases for applications in the Earth sciences
- Detrital illite crystals identified from crystallite thickness measurements in siliciclastic sediments
- High-temperature density of lanthanide-bearing Na-silicate melts: Partial molar volumes for Ce2O3, Pr2O3, Nd2O3, Sm2O3, Eu2O3, Gd2O3, Tb2O3, Dy2O3, Ho2O3, Er2O3, Tm2O3, and Yb2O3
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- The effect of zoned garnet on metapelite pseudosection topology and calculated metamorphic P-T paths
- Low-pressure and low-temperature K-bearing kosmochloric diopside from the Osayama serpentinite mélange, SW Japan
- Dehydration of natural stilbite: An in situ FTIR study
- Structural changes accompanying the phase transformation between leadhillite and susannite: A structural study by means of in situ high-temperature single-crystal X-ray diffraction
- Optic properties of centimeter-sized crystals determined in air with the spindle stage using EXCALIBRW
- Zoltaiite, a new barium-vanadium nesosubsilicate mineral from British Columbia: Description and crystal structure
- Mn-tourmaline from island of Elba (Italy): Crystal chemistry
- Letter: An infrared study of carbon-oxygen bonding in magnesite to 60 GPa
- Letter: Metals in quartz-hosted melt inclusions: Natural facts and experimental artifacts
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