Vibrational spectroscopy of the borate mineral tunellite SrB6O9(OH)2 3(H2O) - implications for the molecular structure.

Abstract

Tunellite is a strontium borate mineral with formula: SrB6O9(OH)2_3(H2O) and occurs as colorless crystals in the monoclinic pyramidal crystal system. An intense Raman band at 994 cm_1 was assigned to the BO stretching vibration of the B2O3 units. Raman bands at 1043, 1063, 1082 and 1113 cm_1 are attributed to the in-plane bending vibrations of trigonal boron. Sharp Raman bands observed at 464, 480, 523, 568 and 639 cm_1 are simply defined as trigonal and tetrahedral borate bending modes. The Raman spectrum clearly shows intense Raman bands at 3567 and 3614 cm_1, attributed to OH units. The molecular structure of a natural tunellite has been assessed by using vibrational spectroscopy.