Aqueous formation and manipulation of the iron-oxo Keggin ion

Abstract

From iron clusters to iron mineral Growing a mineral out of solution, either in the lab or in nature, requires the assembly of atoms or clusters of ions. The structure of some common iron oxides hints that tiny iron-oxygen clusters may serve as mineral building blocks, but isolating these often unstable clusters is challenging. Sadeghi et al. not only isolated but were able to control the growth and dissolution of an iron-oxygen cluster that is a likely precursor to the most common iron oxide mineral, ferrihydrite. Science , this issue p. 1359