Single crystal structure refinement of one- and two-layer hydrates of sodium fluorohectorite

Abstract

Crystal structures of both one- and two-layer hydrates of sodium fluorohectorite were refined against single crystal data for the first time because melt synthesis yielded a sodium fluorohectorite showing little stacking disorder as compared to natural clays. In both hydrate phases, the relative shift of adjacent 2:1 layers is fixed by hydrogen-bonding between water molecules coordinated to interlayer cations and basal oxygen atoms of tetrahedral sheets encompassing the interlayer space. Despite some apparent diffuse scattering, a decent single crystal refinement of the semi-ordered structure of the one-layer hydrate is achieved, revealing structural details of the interlayer spacing for the first time. For the two-layer hydrate the structural model proposed for vermiculites is confirmed but a different ordering pattern of interlayer [Na(H₂O)₆]⁺ is suggested. While in the two-layer hydrate sodium cations reside at the centre of the interlayer space, in the one-layer hydrate sodium is displaced from the centre of the interlayer space either towards the upper or towards the lower tetrahedral sheet. This displacement allows for coordination to the hexagonal cavity on one side while the coordination sphere of sodium is completed by three coordinating water molecules on the other side. These three water molecules in turn are involved in hydrogen bonding to the opposite tetrahedral sheet.