Infrared spectroscopic study of the synthetic Mg–Ni talc series

Abstract

Five talc samples [(Mg,Ni)3Si4O10(OH)2] covering the entire Mg–Ni solid solution were synthesized following a recently developed and patented process (Dumas et al., Process for preparing a composition comprising synthetic mineral particles and composition, 2013a; Procede de preparation d’une composition comprenant des particules minerales synthetiques et composition, 2013b), which produces sub-micron talc particles replying to industrial needs. Near- and mid-infrared spectra were collected and compared to infrared spectra modeled from first-principles calculations based on density functional theory. The good agreement between experimental and theoretical spectra allowed assigning unambiguously all absorption bands. We focused in particular on the four main OH stretching bands, which represent good probes of their local physical and chemical environment. The description of the vibrational modes at the origin of these absorption bands and the theoretical determination of absorption coefficients provide a firm basis for quantifying the talc chemical composition from infrared spectroscopy and for discussing the distribution of divalent cations in the octahedral sheet. Results confirm that these synthetic talc samples have a similar structure as natural talc, with a random distribution of Mg and Ni atoms. They only differ from natural talc by their hydrophilic character, which is due to their large proportion of reactive sites on sheet edges due to sub-micronic size of the particles. Therefore, the contribution on infrared spectra of hydroxyls adsorbed on edge sites has also been investigated by computing the infrared signature of hydroxyls of surface models.