The borate mineral jeremejevite Al6(BO3)5(F,OH)3 - A vibrational spectroscopic study

Jeremejevite is a borate mineral of aluminium and is of variable colour, making the mineral and important inexpensive jewel. The mineral contains variable amounts of F and OH, depending on origin. A comparison of the vibrational spectroscopic data is made with the published data of borate minerals. Raman spectra were averaged over a range of crystal orientations. Two intense Raman bands observed at 961 and 1067 cm(-1) are assigned to the symmetric stretching and antisymmetric stretching modes of trigonal boron. Infrared spectrum, bands observed at 1229, 1304, 1350, 1388 and 1448 cm(-1) are attributed to BOH in-plane bending modes. Intense Raman band found at 372 cm(-1) with other bands of significant intensity at 327 and 417 cm(-1) is assigned to trigonal borate bending modes. A quite intense Raman band is found at 3673 cm(-1) with other sharp Raman bands found at 3521, 3625 and 3703 cm(-1) are assigned to the stretching modes of OH. Raman and infrared spectroscopy has been used to assess the molecular structure of the mineral jeremejevite. Such research is important in the study of borate based nanomaterials. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.