Hydrogen and minor element incorporation in synthetic rutile

Abstract

AbstractThe solubility and incorporation mechanisms of H and various trivalent and divalent cations in synthetic rutile have been investigated. Experiments performed using different bulk Fe2O3 contents demonstrate that Fe3+ substitutes onto the main Ti site, charge-balanced by oxygen vacancies. Under more reducing conditions in Fe-poor systems, the concentration of Ti interstitials in rutile is increased, resulting in a decrease in H solubility. Variation in the solubility of different oxides in rutile as a function of ionic radius implies substitution onto the main Ti site, probably charge-balanced by oxygen vacancies. To a lesser degree, substitution of trivalent and divalent cations is locally charge-balanced by H incorporation. Variation in OH-stretching frequencies in infrared spectra as a function of composition implies that octahedral defects and structurally-incorporated H are coupled. However, in all samples, some of the H is also decoupled from substitutional impurities, as is evident from an OH-absorption band at 3279 cm–1. This band corresponds to the main OH band seen in spectra of many natural rutiles, implying that in most rutiles, H defects are decoupled from substitutional defects.