Raman study of thaumasite Ca 3 Si(OH) 6 (SO 4 )(CO 3 )⋅12H 2 O at high pressure

Thaumasite, Ca 3 Si(OH) 6 (SO 4 )(CO 3 )⋅12H 2 O, is an extraordinary mineral that possibly plays a special role in the carbonate–sulfate–silicate balance of the Earth's crust. Thaumasite, an undesirable component in concrete, remains a material poorly studied at high pressures in various media except for He medium (M. Ardit et al. , Mineral . Mag ., 2014). In the present Raman study, thaumasite samples were compressed in alcohol–water and KBr media at high pressures up to ~7 GPa: several phase transformations were identified. In samples compressed in alcohol–water, the wavenumbers of intense Raman bands of SO and СО symmetric stretching vibrations at 991 and 1074 cm −1 proved to exhibit similar dependences on pressure: during a first transition I → II at 4.4 GPa, the wavenumbers of both bands exhibited a downward jump; at a second transition II → III, which occurred at 4.9 GPa, each band split in a doublet; and then, at a third transition III → IV, which was observed at 5.4 GPa, each doublet band transformed in a singlet. In KBr medium, these and other Raman bands of thaumasite showed similar (to those in thaumasite at compression in alcohol–water) dependences on pressure, revealing several phase transitions with slightly shifted transition points, the first transition I → II, however, being not distinguished. Taking into account the similar behaviors in both media, the transitions are assumed to be polymorphic: no noticeable overhydration in thaumasite compressed in water–alcohol occurred. In phase IV, gradual widening and weakening of each band were observed; those changes can be attributed to amorphization of the material. Considerable hysteresis was observed at thaumasite decompression. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.