Reedmergnerite and stillwellite-(Ce) from the Dara-i-Pioz alkaline massif: insights into high-temperature behavior of borosilicates

Abstract

Research subject. Reedmergnerite and stillwellite-(Ce) were obtained from the rocks of the Dara-i-Pioz alkaline massif located on the southern slope of the Alai Range in Tajikistan, which is characterized by the presence of rare mineral species including borosilicates and lithium minerals. Aim. To investigate the thermal behavior of reedmergnerite and stillwellite-(Ce) using high-temperature X-ray diffraction, including the determination of phase transition temperatures and expansion/compression of the unit cell parameters, as well as the calculation of thermal expansion coefficients. Materials and methods. Chemical analysis was performed using a TESCAN MIRA 3 microscope (EDS mode) and a JEOL JXA-8230 electron probe microanalyzer (WDS mode). High-temperature powder X-ray diffraction data were collected using a D8 ADVANCE Bruker diffractometer with an HTK16 heating chamber, covering temperatures from 30°C to 750°C in ambient air. Results. The thermal expansion coefficients of reedmergnerite and stillwellite-(Ce) were determined. Heating reedmergnerite resulted in slight changes in the unit cell parameters, with the parameter c experiencing the smallest change and the parameter a showing the greatest increase. The unit cell volume increased by 1.8% when heated to 750°C and returned to its initial value upon cooling. When stillwellite-(Ce) is heated in the temperature range of 400–450°C, a phase transition occurs, which is confirmed by previously recorded temperature values. The conducted heating and subsequent cooling experiments revealed that the volume and unit cell parameters of stillwellite-(Ce) did not fully revert to their original values. Conclusions. The coefficients of thermal expansion tensor (αij) of rhodmerdgnertite and stillwellite-(Ce) were investigated as a function of temperature using high-temperature in-situ experiments. The phases exhibited relatively low values of thermal expansion parameters compared to the general data for feldspars and borosilicates obtained from literature. These findings contribute to the understanding of the thermoelastic behavior of this group of minerals and their potential applications in various fields.