The Structural Behaviour of Tetrahedral Framework Compounds—A Review. Part I. Structural Behaviour

D. Taylor
15 Leigh Road, Congleton, Cheshire CW12 2EG

Abstract: Tetrahedral framework compounds, as defined in this paper, generally exist as tilted and distorted versions of ideal fully expanded structures at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. How pressure, temperature, and composition (P, T, and X) affect the tilting and distortion is critically reviewed. Although P, T, and X are generally regarded as analogous variables in their effect on framework structures there is reason to believe that they have different structural effects. In particular, an important, and frequently neglected, thermal effect is the apparent shortening of the framework bonds by the anisotropic thermal motion of the framework oxygens. The effects of P, T, and X on displacive transformations in framework compounds are reviewed with particular reference to the disordered alkali feldspars and the leucites. It seems probable from the available evidence that displacive transformations do not take place at a critical size of the framework. Displacive transformations can take place with or without a volume discontinuity and hysteresis. Furthermore, the effects of P, T, and X on a solid-solution series with a displacive transformation can be different, one variable causing a volume discontinuity and another a smooth transition.

Mineralogical Magazine; September 1983 v. 47; no. 344; p. 319-326; DOI: 10.1180/minmag.1983.047.344.06
© 1983, The Mineralogical Society
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