TY - JOUR A1 - Paskin, A. A1 - Couasnon, T. A1 - Perez, J. P. H. A1 - Lobanov, S. S. A1 - Blukis, R. A1 - Reinsch, Stefan A1 - Benning, L. G. T1 - Nucleation and Crystallization of Ferrous Phosphate Hydrate via an Amorphous Intermediate N2 - The fundamental processes of nucleation and crystallization are widely observed in systems relevant to material synthesis and biomineralization; yet most often, their mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we unravel the discrete stages of nucleation and crystallization of Fe3(PO4)2·8H2O (vivianite). We experimentally monitored the formation and transformation from ions to solid products by employing correlated, time-resolved in situ and ex situ approaches. We show that vivianite crystallization occurs in distinct stages via a transient amorphous precursor phase. The metastable amorphous ferrous phosphate (AFEP) intermediate could be isolated and stabilized. We resolved the differences in bonding environments, structure, and symmetric changes of the Fe site during the transformation of AFEP to crystalline vivianite through synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy at the Fe K-edge. This intermediate AFEP phase has a lower water content and less distorted local symmetry, compared to the crystalline end product vivianite. Our combined results indicate that a nonclassical, hydration-induced nucleation and transformation driven by the incorporation and rearrangement of water molecules and ions (Fe2+ and PO4 3−) within the AFEP is the dominating mechanism of vivianite formation at moderately high to low vivianite supersaturations (saturation index ≤ 10.19). We offer fundamental insights into the aqueous, amorphous-to-crystalline transformations in the Fe2+−PO4 system and highlight the different attributes of the AFEP, compared to its crystalline counterpart. KW - Nucleation KW - Crystallization KW - Vivianite KW - Ferrous phosphate hydrate PY - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-580696 SN - 0002-7863 VL - 145 IS - 28 SP - 15137 EP - 15151 PB - ACS Publications AN - OPUS4-58069 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Wehmann, N. A1 - Lenting, C. A1 - Stawski, T. M. A1 - Agudo Jacome, Leonardo T1 - Anhydrite formation in planetary surface environments - The case of the Atacama Desert N2 - Gypsum (CaSO4∙2H2O), bassanite (CaSO4∙0.5H2O), and anhydrite (CaSO4) are essential evaporite minerals for the evolution of hyper-arid surface environments on Earth and Mars (Voigt et al. 2019; Vaniman et al. 2018). The formation mechanism of especially anhydrite has been a matter of scientific debate for more than a century (van’t Hoff et al. 1903). To date, there exists no model that can reliably predict anhydrite formation at earth’s surface conditions. While thermodynamics favor its formation, it is hardly achieved on laboratory time scales at conditions fitting either the Atacama Desert on Earth, or the surface of Mars (Wehmann et al. 2023). In light of most recent developments (e.g. Stawski et al. 2016), that advocate for a complex, non-classical nucleation mechanism for all calcium sulphates, we present an analysis of natural samples from the Atacama Desert to identify key features that promote the nucleation and growth of anhydrite under planetary surface conditions. Our analyses reveal at least three distinct anhydrite facies, with differing mineralogy and micro- to nano-structures. The facies are (1) aeolian deposits with sub-μm grain sizes, (2) (sub-)surface nodules that formed from aeolian deposits and (3) selenites with secondary anhydrite rims. Possible mechanisms of their formation will be discussed. T2 - 10th Granada-Münster Discussion Meeting CY - Münster, Germany DA - 29.11.2023 KW - Calcium sulfates KW - Nucleation KW - Planetary surface KW - Hyper-arid PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-59111 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -