Structural Features of Silicates

For a long time the stmctures of silicates were described as frameworks of close-packed anions, with smaller cations occupying the gaps. In 1959 Belov [292] opened a new era of crystal chemistry of silicates by proving that the basic motif of the 

The major results of XRD analysis of silicates are reviewed in Belov s book [292] and need not be reiterated here. The most characteristic feature of silicates is tetrahedral coordination of silicon and approximate constant lengths of /(Si-0) 

MX3 In prism Over face MX3 In prism Over face 

1 Onodera A, Mimasaka M, Sakamoto I et al (1999) J Phys Chem Solids 60 167 

7 Brogan MA, Blake AJ, Wilson C, Gragory DH (2003) Acta Cryst C 59 il36 

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