A vibrational spectroscopic study of the phosphate mineral churchite (REE)(PO(4))⋅2H(2)O.

Vibrational spectroscopy has been used to study the rare earth mineral churchite of formula (REE)(PO4)⋅2H2O. The mineral contains a range of rare earth metals including yttrium depending on the locality. The Raman spectra of churchite-(REE) are characterized by an intense sharp band at 984cm(-1) assigned to the ν1(PO4(3-)) symmetric stretching mode. A lower intensity band observed at around 1067cm(-1) is attributed to the ν3(PO4(3-)) antisymmetric stretching mode. The (PO4(3-)) bending modes are observed at 497cm(-1) (ν2) and 565cm(-1)(ν4). Raman bands at 649 and 681cm(-1) are assigned to water librational modes. Vibrational spectroscopy enables aspects of the structure of churchite to be ascertained.