Charge transport in micas: The kinetics of FeII/III electron transfer in the octahedral sheet

Abstract

The two principal FeII/III electron exchange reactions underlying charge transport in the octahedral sheet of ideal end-member annite were modeled using a combination of ab initio calculations and Marcus electron transfer theory. A small polaron model was applied which yielded electron hopping activation energies that agree well with the limited available experimental data. A small ab initio cluster model successfully reproduced several important structural, energetic, and magnetic characteristics of the M1 and M2 Fe sites in the annite octahedral sheet. The cluster enabled calculation of the internal reorganization energy and electronic coupling matrix elements for the M2–M2 and M1–M2 electron transfer reactions. The M2–M2 electron transfer is symmetric with a predicted forward/reverse electron hopping rate of 106 s−1. The M1–M2 electron transfers are asymmetric due to the higher ionization potential by 0.46 eV of FeII in the M1 site. The electronic coupling matrix elements for these reactions are predicted to be small and of similar magnitude, suggesting the possibility that the coupling is essentially direction independent amongst hopping directions in the octahedral sheet. M1 Fe sites are predicted to be efficient electron traps and charge transport should occur by nearest-neighbor electron hops along the M2 Fe sublattice.