The influence of aluminium on iron oxides: XII. High-resolution transmission electron microscopic (HRTEM) study of aluminous goethites

Abstract

Aluminium-substituted goethites are found in many soils and can also be synthesised readily in the laboratory. In recent years, synthetic substituted goethites have been examined by various techniques including XRD, IR, TEM and dissolution kinetics (Thiel, 1963; Jonas & Solymar, 1970; Fey & Dixon, 1981; Fysh & Fredericks, 1983; Schulze & Schwertmann, 1984; Schwertmann, 1984). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies have shown that as Al substitution rises above 10%, the goethite needles become shorter and also thicker in the a direction. Furthermore, crystals which at zero substitution consist of domains parallel to the c axis become less domainic with increasing Al substitution (Schulze & Schwertmann, 1984).