Crystallization, metastable phases

Since zeolites are metastable crystallization products tliey are subject to Ostwald s mle which states tliat metastable phases are initially foniied and gradually transfonii into tlie tlieniiodynaniically most stable product. The least stable zeolitic phase (tliat witli tlie lowest framework density) is tlierefore foniied first and consumed with furtlier syntliesis time at tlie expense of a more stable phase due to a continuous crystallization/redissolution equilibrium. 

Under equiUbrium vapor pressure of water, the crystalline tfihydroxides, Al(OH)2 convert to oxide—hydroxides at above 100°C (9,10). Below 280°—300°C, boehmite is the prevailing phase, unless diaspore seed is present. Although spontaneous nucleation of diaspore requires temperatures in excess of 300 °C and 20 MPa (200 bar) pressure, growth on seed crystals occurs at temperatures as low as 180 °C. For this reason it has been suggested that boehmite is the metastable phase although its formation is kinetically favored at lower temperatures and pressures. The ultimate conversion of the hydroxides to comndum [1302-74-5] AI2O2, the final oxide form, occurs above 360°C and 20 MPa. 

Pressure-induced phase transitions in the titanium dioxide system provide an understanding of crystal structure and mineral stability in planets interior and thus are of major geophysical interest. Moderate pressures transform either of the three stable polymorphs into the a-Pb02 (columbite)-type structure, while further pressure increase creates the monoclinic baddeleyite-type structure. Recent high-pressure studies indicate that columbite can be formed only within a limited range of pressures/temperatures, although it is a metastable phase that can be preserved unchanged for years after pressure release Combined Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction studies 6-8,10 ave established that rutile transforms to columbite structure at 10 GPa, while anatase and brookite transform to columbite at approximately 4-5 GPa. 

Finally, at even lower transformation temperatures, a completely new reaction occurs. Austenite transforms to a new metastable phase called martensite, which is a supersaturated solid solution of carbon in iron and which has a body-centred tetragonal crystal structure. Furthermore, the mechanism of the transformation of austenite to martensite is fundamentally different from that of the formation of pearlite or bainite in particular martensitic transformations do not involve diffusion and are accordingly said to be diffusionless. Martensite is formed from austenite by the slight rearrangement of iron atoms required to transform the f.c.c. crystal structure into the body-centred tetragonal structure the distances involved are considerably less than the interatomic distances. A further characteristic of the martensitic transformation is that it is predominantly athermal, as opposed to the isothermal transformation of austenite to pearlite or bainite. In other words, at a temperature midway between (the temperature at which martensite starts to form) and m, (the temperature at which martensite... 

To avoid this phase change, zirconia is stabilized in the cubic phase by the addition of a small amount of a divalent or trivalent oxide of cubic symmetry, such as MgO, CaO, or Y2O3. The additive oxide cation enters the crystal lattice and increases the ionic character of the metal-oxygen bonds. The cubic phase is not thermodynamically stable below approximately 1400°C for MgO additions, 1140°C for CaO additions, and below 750°C for Y2O3 additions. However, the diffusion rates for the cations are so low at Xhtstsubsolidus temperatures that the cubic phase can easily be quenched and retained as a metastable phase. Zirconia is commercially applied by thermal spray. It is also readily produced by CVD, mostly on an experimental basis. Its characteristics and properties are summarized in Table 11.8. 

For example, the difference between the monoclinic CaC2 phases is the presence of only one type of acetylide ion in phase II and two distinct C2 species in phase III, as concluded from their crystal structures and from C-NMR studies (Fig. 8.3) [8]. The transformation between phases II and III is induced by heating phase II above 150°C until the metastable phase. III, is formed. Phase III remains stable even when being cooled down to room temperature. However, when the metastable phase III is ground in a mortar at room temperature, it transforms back into phase II. 

Precipitation can occur if a water is supersaturated with respect to a solid phase however, if the growth of a thermodynamically stable phase is slow, a metastable phase may form. Disordered, amorphous phases such as ferric hydroxide, aluminum hydroxide, and allophane are thermodynamically unstable with respect to crystalline phases nonetheless, these disordered phases are frequently found in nature. The rates of crystallization of these phases are strongly controlled by the presence of adsorbed ions on the surfaces of precipitates (99). Zawacki et al. (Chapter 32) present evidence that adsorption of alkaline earth ions greatly influences the formation and growth of calcium phosphates. While hydroxyapatite was the thermodynamically stable phase under the conditions studied by these authors, it is shown that several different metastable phases may form, depending upon the degree of supersaturation and the initiating surface phase. 

In this chapter, general aspects and structural properties of crystalline solid phases are described, and a short introduction is given to modulated and quasicrystal structures (quasi-periodic crystals). Elements of structure systematics with the description of a number of structure types are presented in the subsequent Chapter 7. Finally, both in this chapter and in Chapter 6, dedicated to preparation techniques, characteristic features of typical metastable phases are considered with attention to amorphous and glassy alloys. 

It should be emphasised that it is the rule rather than the exception for p to change markedly with crystal structure (Table 8.2). It is therefore unwise to assume that various metastable allotropes can be given the same value of P for the stable structure. In some cases values of p can be extrapolated from stable or metastable alloys with the requisite crystal structure, but in others this is not possible. A significant development is that it is now possible to include spin polarisation in electron energy calculations (Moruzzi and Marcus 1988, 1990a,b, Asada and Terakura 1995). This allows a calculation of the equilibrium value of to be made in any desired crystal structure. More importantly, such values are in good accord with known values for equilibrium phases (Table 8.2). It has also been shown that magnetic orbital contributions play a relatively minor role (Eriksson et al. 1990), so calculated values of P for metastable phases should be reasonably reliable. 

As introduced above, different forms of the same molecule can be observed in the solid state. The phenomenon is known as polymorphism, i.e., the concurrent presence of more crystal forms, only one of which is thermodynamically stable at a given pressure and temperature. However, more polymorphs can be observed simultaneously when kinetic conditions allow formation of metastable phases together with (or even in the absence of) the thermodynamically stable one. It might even occur that metastable phases are not recognized as such, simply because the most stable polymorph is (as yet) unknown. This might produce the extraordinary phenomenon of disappearing polymorphs [97]. 

All crystal growth takes place in low-temperature, low-pressure aqueous solution (at 1 atmospheric pressure and room temperature). This suggests a higher probability of formation of an amorphous state, phases of low crystallinity, and metastable phases as precursors, and therefore subsequent transformation to stable or metastable phases. 

It is important to understand how these characteristics affect the morphology of the crystals and the textures of their aggregations. These specific characteristics allow crystals formed due to biological activity to exist as amorphous states or in metastable phases, and they bring about different characteristics in the morphology and textures of crystals from those present in uncontrolled inorganic systems. 

The primary source of x-ray crystal diffract-tion reference data is the above-mentioned ASTM Powder Diffraction File , published by the Joint Committee on Powder Diffraction Standards. This file consists of over 38000 diffraction patterns of crystalline materials including expls and related materials. Scientists in the expls field routinely utilize this source. for the identification of expls and metastable phases by comparing the interplanar d spacings and intensities of exptl phases with those of known phases (Refs 4,10,21 22)... 

Similarly, when rhombic red a-sulfur is heated above 100°C, it usually fails to exhibit the expected thermodynamic conversion to yellow /3-sulfur at 96°C. Instead, it persists as a superheated metastable phase up to 114°C (dashed line), where it exhibits an apparently normal melting point to the liquid form (unless extreme patience or a nucleating seed crystal of /3-sulfur is employed). The dashed lines in Fig. 7.5 therefore mark out metastable phase transition boundaries between forms of sulfur that are not true Gibbs free energy minima at the cited temperature and pressure (e.g., superheated a-sulfur and supercooled liquid sulfur at 114°C, 1 atm). The metastable phase domains can overlap stable phase domains in a quite complex and confusing manner. A kinetically facile metastable phase boundary will often appear more real and relevant to actual chemical phenomena than will the idealized boundary between (kinetically inaccessible) phases of lowest Gibbs free energy. 

Zeolite formation depends on reaction conditions 2-4). It is generally believed that most zeolites are formed as metastable phases. According to Barrer (3), the course of the synthesis, beginning with the type of starting material, determines the structure of the zeolite formed. The studies of Zhdanov 2, 5) on the composition of liquid and solid phases of hydrogels indicate that the kind and composition of the zeolite formed depend on the hydrogel composition and that the results of crystallization of aluminosilicate gels obtained in the same way are reproducible. 

Occasionally, long-range disorder and/or different phases may coexist within a crystalline material. Arrangement of molecules in the different regions will necessarily be different in at least some respects. One of the earliest reports of invocation of this phenomenon involves the photodimerization of anthracene in the crystalline state [219]. In the crystal structure of anthracene, the faces of no molecules are separated by <4 A. Yet upon irradiation, a dimer is readily formed. Thomas, Jones, and co-workers used electron microscopy to reveal the coexistence inside normal anthracene crystals of regions of a metastable phase. In the minor phase (space group PI), the C9- -C9. distance is 4.2 A, whereas in the stable crystal it is 4.5 A. The dimerization is proposed to originate in the minor phase of the crystal. 

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