Abstract
A considerable increase in the price of natural aquamarine has led to the emergence of hydrothermal synthetic aquamarine as a cheap substitute in the market. In this study, comparative analysis was conducted between natural aquamarine obtained from Altay Prefecture in Xinjiang, China, and hydrothermal synthetic aquamarine in the Chinese market to distinguish them with loupe-clean clarity. Nondestructive tests including microscopic observation, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, ultraviolet–visible–near-infrared spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy were conducted. The two samples were low-alkali aquamarine, dominated by type Ⅰ H2O, and the infrared spectra showed similar water-related peaks, exhibiting weak absorption bands related to Cl− at 2736 and 2449 cm−1 and CO2 in the crystal channels at 2358 cm−1. Apart from the strong irregular and distinctive growth patterns, infrared absorption bands at 3313 and 4060 cm−1 due to the N–H bond (derived from ammonium halide used in crystal growth) vibrations were found to be present only in hydrothermal synthetic aquamarine. This study reveals implications for identifying hydrothermal synthetic aquamarine when the internal features of loupe-clean aquamarine are not obvious.
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