Hydrolysis Products of Fe(III)-Si Systems With Different Si/(Si + Fe) Molar Ratios: Implications to Detection of Ferrihydrite on Mars

Abstract

<p>Ferrihydrite, a nanocrystalline iron (oxyhydr)oxide mineral, is widely distributed in soils and sediments on Earth and is probably an important component and/or precursor of widespread nanophase iron minerals on Mars. Terrestrial ferrihydrite often co-occurs with amorphous silica and/or contains a certain amount of Si in its structure. However, it remains ambiguous how environmental Si concentration affects the formation-evolution and structure-spectral features of ferrihydrite in the Fe(III)-Si systems. To this end, hydrolysis experiments were carried out for Fe-Si systems at an unprecedentedly wide range of initial Si/(Fe + Si) molar ratios (0–0.80), followed by characterizing the products detailly. X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, Mössbauer spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy results showed that at Si/(Fe + Si) molar ratios ≤0.30, the main phase of the products was ferrihydrite, of which the unit cells enlarged, the crystallinity decreased, and the existing state of Fe changed with increased Si contents; at Si/(Fe + Si) molar ratios ≥0.40, ferrihydrite was no longer formed and a novel amorphous Fe-O-Si phase was instead obtained, with the excess Si forming amorphous silica. The visible and near-infrared spectroscopy, the most powerful tool to detect hydrous minerals on the surface of Mars at global or regional scales, showed weakness in identifying ferrihydrite-like materials obtained in the Fe-Si systems. Raman spectroscopy can identify ferrihydrite and Si-containing ferrihydrite but cannot differentiate between them. Mössbauer spectroscopy showed great potential in both identifying and differentiating between ferrihydrite and Si-containing ferrihydrite, and thus can be used to characterize the poorly ordered iron (oxyhydr)oxides on Mars.</p>