Hydrogarnets
Sr3M2(OH)12 (M = Cr, Fe, and
Al) were synthesized from mild hydrothermal
systems at 240 °C with
Sr(OH)2·8H2O,
Cr(NO3)3·9H2O,
Fe(NO3)3·9H2O, and
Al(OH)3 as the
starting materials. High solubility of the input species and basic
concentration in the reaction
systems considerably lower crystallization temperatures and enhance the
crystallinity of
the resulting hydrogarnets. The structural stability and thermal
properties of Sr based
hydrogarnets were investigated by X-ray diffraction, DTA-TG, infrared,
and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies. With increasing temperature, Sr based
hydrogarnets underwent
fast dehydration due to the loss of the nearest OH-
species of Sr−OH dodecahedra. During
the course of decomposition, valence variations of the hydrogarnet
framework ions, e.g., Fe
and Cr directly determined the decomposition process and phase
compositions in final
decomposition products. The decomposition product of
Sr3Cr2(OH)12 in air was a
mixture of
SrCrO4 and SrO, but in N2, a mixture of a
rhombohedral phase Sr4Cr2O8
with some
amorphous phase was observed; in either O2 or
N2, Sr3Fe2(OH)12
decomposed to an unknown
phase, which was not a perovskite
Sr3Fe2O7
-
x
.
Sr3Al2(OH)12 decomposed
to a single phase
Sr3Al2O6. In Sr−Fe
hydrogarnet, two different symmetric octahedra of
Fe(OH)6 were revealed
by Mossbauer spectroscopy. Mild hydrothermal crystallization and
the thermal decomposition behaviors of Sr-based hydrogarnets are discussed.