CFSE crystal field stabilization

Although Fc304 is an inverse spinel it will be recalled that Mn304 (pp. 1048-9) is normal. This contrast can be explained on the basis of crystal field stabilization. Manganese(II) and Fe" are both d ions and, when high-spin, have zero CFSE whether octahedral or tetrahedral. On the other hand, Mn" is a d and Fe" a d ion, both of which have greater CFSEs in the octahedral rather than the tetrahedral case. The preference of Mn" for the octahedral sites therefore favours the spinel structure, whereas the preference of Fe" for these octahedral sites favours the inverse structure. 

The cations in these compounds are Fe and/or Fe". In iron oxides, Fe " is always in the high spin (unpaired d electrons) state. As Fe with five d electrons has no crystal field stabilization energy (CFSE see Chap. 6), regardless of whether it is octa-hedrally or tetrahedrally coordinated, there is little preference for one or the other type of site. For Fe , on the other hand, CFSE is higher for octahedral than for tetrahedral coordination, so the octahedral coordination is favoured. 

The M-ferrihydrite coprecipitate contains M-O/OH-Fe and M-O/OH-M as well as Fe-O/OH-Fe linkages. The transition elements stabilize ferrihydrite in the order, Mn < Ni < Co < Cu < Zn (Cornell, 1988 Giovanoli Cornell, 1992). This order does not correspond with that of the electronegativities or the crystal field stabilization energies (CFSE) of these elements, nor does it match the order of binding constants for the M-surface complexes. If Zn is omitted from the series, however, there is a reasonable cor-... 

CFSE Crystal Field Stabilization Energy CMC Critical micelle concentration DDAC1 N-Dodecylammonium Chloride DEDTC Diethyl Dithiocarbamate EDL Electric Double Layer GChSG Gouy/Chapman/Stern/Grahame IP Isoelectric Point... 

Crystal field stabilization energy, CFSE. Each electron in a t2g orbital stabilizes a transition metal ion in octahedral coordination by 0.4Ao, whereas every electron in an eg orbital destabilizes it by 0.6Ao. The crystal field stabilization energy, CFSE, represents the algebraic sum of these factors. Cations may have... 

There are several approaches for obtaining spectral data for low-abundance transition metal ions, rare minerals and crystals of small dimensions. Data for a transition element in its chemical compounds, such as hydrates, aqueous solutions, molten salts or simple oxides, may be extrapolated to minerals containing the cation. Such data for synthetic transition metal-doped corundum and periclase phases used to describe principles of crystal field theory in chapter 2, appear in table 2.5, for example. There is a growing body of visible to near-infrared spectral data for transition metal-bearing minerals, however, and much of this information is reviewed in this chapter and the following one. These results form the data-base from which crystal field stabilization energies (CFSE s) of most of the transition metal ions in common oxide and silicate minerals may be estimated. 

Perhaps a more fundamental application of crystal field spectral measurements, and the one that heralded the re-discovery of crystal field theory by Orgel in 1952, is the evaluation of thermodynamic data for transition metal ions in minerals. Energy separations between the 3d orbital energy levels may be deduced from the positions of crystal field bands in an optical spectrum, malting it potentially possible to estimate relative crystal field stabilization energies (CFSE s) of the cations in each coordination site of a mineral structure. These data, once obtained, form the basis for discussions of thermodynamic properties of minerals and interpretations of transition metal geochemistry described in later chapters. 

Measurements of absorption spectra of oxides, glasses and hydrates of transition metal ions have enabled crystal field stabilization energies (CFSE s) in tetrahedral and octahedral coordinations to be estimated in oxide structures (see table 2.5). The difference between the octahedral and tetrahedral CFSE is called the octahedral site preference energy (OSPE), and values are summarized in table 6.3. The OSPE s may be regarded as a measure of the affinity of a transition metal ion for an octahedral coordination site in an oxide structure such as spinel. Trivalent cations with high OSPE s are predicted to occupy octahedral sites in spinels and to form normal spinels. Thus, Cr3, Mn3, V3+... 

Crystal chemistry of spinels. A classic example showing that transition metal ions display distinct site preferences in oxides stems from studies of spinel crystal chemistry. The spinel structure contains tetrahedral and octahedral sites normal and inverse forms exist in which divalent and trivalent ions, respectively, fill the tetrahedral sites. The type of spinel formed by a cation is related to its octahedral site preference energy (OSPE), or difference between crystal field stabilization energies in octahedral and tetrahedral coordinations in an oxide structure. Trivalent and divalent cations with large site preference energies (e.g., Cr3 and Ni2+) tend to form normal and inverse spinels, respectively. The type of spinel adopted by cations with zero CFSE (e.g., Fe3+ and Mn2+) is controlled by the preferences of the second cation in the structure. 

Chapter 7 discusses some of the thermodynamic properties of transition metal compounds and minerals that are influenced by crystal field effects. The characteristic double-humped curves in plots of thermodynamic data for suites of transition metal-bearing phases originate from contributions from the crystal field stabilization energy. However, these CFSE s, important as they are for explaining differences between individual cations, make up only a small fraction of the total energy of a transition metal compound. In the absence of spectroscopic data, CFSE s could be evaluated from the double-humped curves of thermodynamic data for isochemical compounds of the first transition series. 

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