Mixed-Valence Iron Dumortierite Fe-13.5(2.22+)(As5+O4-X)(8)(Oh)(6) Its Intricate Topotactic Exsolution At Mild Temperatures

The mixed-valent iron arsenate hydroxide Fe-13.5(2.22+)(As5+ O4-x)(8)(OH)(6), x = 0.25, was prepared using the reaction of iron metal with arsenate in aqueous solution and autogenous pressure. Its crystal structure reveals a dumortierite-like framework with mixed-valent Fe2+/Fe3+ in double chains creating channel walls. Remarkably, hexagonal channels consist of chains of face-sharing Fe2+O6 octahedra, 3/4th occupied, whereas AsO4 tetrahedra occupy triangular ones with a single "up" orientation according to the polar P6(3)mc symmetry. We have analyzed the transformation of this phase upon heating, in which several chemical processes interact, including dehydroxylation, arsenate to arsenite reduction, and oxidative exsolution of a significant part of iron (ca. 15%) found at the surface as hematite and amorphous Fe-rich surficial layer. It leaves a strongly disordered composite structure between several Fe3+-based subunits, in which, similar to 80% of them is ordered in a complex supercell. Because of the high degree of disorder, the crystal chemistry of the individual subunits and their plausible imbrication were considered to unravel the most plausible ideal 3D model.