A vibrational spectroscopic study of the silicate mineral harmotome--(Ba,Na,K)1-2(Si,Al)8O16⋅6H2O--a natural zeolite.

The mineral harmotome (Ba,Na,K)1-2(Si,Al)8O16⋅6H2O is a crystalline sodium calcium silicate which has the potential to be used in plaster boards and other industrial applications. It is a natural zeolite with catalytic potential. Raman bands at 1020 and 1102 cm(-1) are assigned to the SiO stretching vibrations of three dimensional siloxane units. Raman bands at 428, 470 and 491 cm(-1) are assigned to OSiO bending modes. The broad Raman bands at around 699, 728, 768 cm(-1) are attributed to water librational modes. Intense Raman bands in the 3100 to 3800 cm(-1) spectral range are assigned to OH stretching vibrations of water in harmotome. Infrared spectra are in harmony with the Raman spectra. A sharp infrared band at 3731 cm(-1) is assigned to the OH stretching vibration of SiOH units. Raman spectroscopy with complimentary infrared spectroscopy enables the characterization of the silicate mineral harmotome.