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Article
Pressure induced Fe2++Ti4+ → Fe3++Ti3+ intervalence charge transfer and the Fe3+/Fe2+ ratio in natural ilmenite (FeTiO3) minerals
Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter (2004)
  • Takele Seda, Western Washington University
  • G R Hearne, University of the Witwatersrand
Abstract
The Fe3+/Fe2+ ratio in natural ilmenite (FeTiO3) samples shows rapid increase under pressure from ambient up to  GPa, as deduced from 57Fe Mössbauer pressure studies. The ratio, which is initially 0.2 at ambient pressure, saturates at  beyond 2–4 GPa to the highest pressure of 14 GPa in this study. Dramatic changes occur at low pressure where the compressibility of the unit cell is appreciably anisotropic, the c-axis being more compressible than the a-axis, and coincides with the rapid decrease observed in the electrical resistance under pressure. Pressure induced intervalence charge transfer away from the ferrous sites, conceivably across regions of octahedra, to the empty 3d manifold of the Ti4+ cation in an adjacent face-sharing layer along the c-axis may account for the change in the Fe3+/Fe2+ ratio.
Keywords
  • Natural ilmenite minerals,
  • Mössbauer pressure studies
Publication Date
April 21, 2004
DOI
10.1088/0953-8984/16/15/021
Publisher Statement
IOP Publishing Ltd
Citation Information
Takele Seda and G R Hearne 2004 J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 16 2707