Natural ferrihydrites in surface deposits from Finland and their association with silica

Abstract

Young ochreous precipitations from Fe-bearing spring waters in Finland consist mainly of ferrihydrite. a poorly ordered Fe-oxide with a layer structure and the bulk composition 5 Fe 2O 3 ·9 H 2O Crystallinity ranges from a reasonably well developed structure to a highly disordered one with only two prismatic reflections at 2.5 and 1.5 Å. In contrast to other Fe-oxides. ferrihydrite is highly soluble in oxalate. Electron microscopy shows spherical particles 2–5 nm in diameter forming aggregates of 100–300 nm. The specific surface ranges from 220 to 560 m 2/g. During their formation, the ferrihydrites adsorb large quantities of silica, part of which is unpolymerized as indicated by Si-O-Fe bonds (i.r.), and part of which is polymerized. NaOH preferentially extracts polymerized silica causing a shift in the i.r. absorption band. Silica also causes a shift in the temperature at which ferrihydrite converts to hematite. ‘Hydrous Fe(III)-oxides’ with 0–15mol% Si prepared from Si containing Fe(III) salt solutions showed similar properties: Si-O-Fe bonds are shown by i.r. and increasing temperatures of transformation to hematite with increasing amount of Si. Adsorbed Si may also retard the transformation of ferrihydrite to the more stable goethite in nature.