A Geometrical Structural Model of 2:1 Trioctahedral Clay Minerals

2:1 삼팔면체 점토광물의 기하학적 구조모델

This study introduces a new structural model of 1M 2:1 trioctahedral clay minerals or, more generally, 2:1 trioctahedral phyllosilicates. The structural model requires only the chemical formulae of the clay minerals as an input and uses the regression relation (Radoslovich, 1962) to calculate the a- and b-dimensions of the phyllosilicates with the given chemical formulae. The atomic coordinates of the constituent atoms are geometrically calculated for C2/m space group under the assumption that the interatomic distances are constant. To determine the c-dimension, this study calculates the binding energies of 1M 2:1 trioctahedral phyllosilicates as a function of d(001) and find the minimum energy producing d(001). The structural model generates the cell dimensions, interaxial angles, interatomic distances, octahedral, tetrahedral and interlayer thickness, polyhedron deformation angles and atomic coordinates in the unit cell. The simulated structural parameters of phlogopite and annite are very close to the reported data by Hazen and Burnham (1973), suggesting that the structure simulation using only the chemical formule is successful, and thus, that the structural model of this study overcomes the difficulties in the previous models by other investigators.