Iron in silicate glasses: a systematic analysis of pre-edge, XANES and EXAFS features

Abstract

A large number (67) of silicate glasses containing variable amounts of iron oxide were studied by high-resolution XANES spectroscopy at the Fe K-edge to determine an accurate method to derive redox information from pre-edge features. The glass compositions studied mimic geological magmas, ranging from basaltic to rhyolitic, dry and hydrous, with variable quench rates. The studied glasses also include more chemically simple calco-sodic silicate glass compositions. The Fe contents range from 30 wt.% to less than 2000 ppm. For most of the series of composition studied, the pre-edge information varies linearly with redox, even under high-resolution conditions. The average coordination of Fe(II) is often similar to its Fe(III) counterpart except in highly polymerized glasses because of the strong influence exerted by the tetrahedral framework on iron's sites. Natural volcanic glasses (from various volcanoes around the world) show similar variations. The average coordination of Fe(II) is often comprised between 4.5 and 5. Fe(III) shows larger variations in coordination (4 to 6, depending on composition). Bond valence models are proposed to predict the average coordination of Fe based on composition. Molecular dynamics simulations (Born–Mayer–Huggins) potentials were carried out on some compositions to estimate the magnitude of disorder effects (both static and thermal) in the XAFS analysis. XANES calculations based on the MD simulations and FEFF 8.2 show large variations in the local structures around Fe. Also, 5-coordinated Fe(III) is found to be an important moiety in ferrisilicate glasses. For Fe(II), discrepancies between glass and melt are larger and are related to its greater structural relaxation at Tg. Also, a strong destructive interference between network formers and modifiers explain the relatively weak intensity of the next-nearest neighbors contributions in the experimental spectra.