New data on the thermal behavior of 14 Å tobermorite

The thermal behavior of two specimens of 14 Å tobermorite (plombièrite) was studied in situ at the GILDA beamline (ESRF, Grenoble, France). During dehydration, plombièrite shortens its basal spacing from 14 to 11 Å, through a progressive approaching of the complex structural modules characterizing its crystal structure. Upon heating, the 11 Å phase progressively contracts its c periodicity, with its d002 varying from 11.7 to 11.3 Å. At ca. 300 °C, a 9.6 Å phase appears; it is stable up to ca. 700 °C. Above this temperature, it expands its basal spacing up to 10.2 Å, before transforming into wollastonite.Moreover, one specimen was heated at 150 °C for 4 h and the heated product, identified as 11 Å tobermorite through X-ray powder diffraction, was used to collect micro-Raman spectra. The heated product shows single chains, in contrast with the 11 Å natural specimens studied up to now in which double wollastonite-like chains occur.