Crystallization of LiAlSiO4 Glass in Hydrothermal Environments at Gigapascal Pressures-Dense Hydrous Aluminosilicates

High-pressure hydrothermal environments can drastically reduce the kinetic constraints of phase transitions and afford high-pressure modifications of oxides at comparatively low temperatures. Under certain circumstances such environments allow access to kinetically favored phases, including hydrous ones with water incorporated as hydroxyl. We studied the crystallization of glass in the presence of a large excess of water in the pressure range of 0.25-10 GPa and at temperatures from 200 to 600 °C. The p and T quenched samples were analyzed by powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and IR spectroscopy. At pressures of 0.25-2 GPa metastable zeolite Li-ABW and stable α-eucryptite are obtained at low and high temperatures, respectively, with crystal structures based on tetrahedrally coordinated Al and Si atoms. At 5 GPa a new, hydrous phase of LiAlSiO4, LiAlSiO3(OH)2 = LiAlSiO4·H2O, is produced. Its crystal structure was characterized from single-crystal X-ray diffraction data (space group P21/c, a = 9.547(3) Å, b = 14.461(5) Å, c = 5.062(2) Å, β = 104.36(1)°). The monoclinic structure resembles that of α-spodumene (LiAlSi2O6) and constitutes alternating layers of chains of corner-condensed SiO4 tetrahedra and chains of edge-sharing AlO6 octahedra. OH groups are part of the octahedral Al coordination and extend into channels provided within the SiO4 tetrahedron chain layers. At 10 GPa another hydrous phase of LiAlSiO4 with presently unknown structure is produced. The formation of hydrous forms of LiAlSiO4 shows the potential of hydrothermal environments at gigapascal pressures for creating truly new materials. In this particular case it indicates the possibility of generally accessing pyroxene-type aluminosilicates with crystallographic amounts of hydroxyl incorporated. This could also have implications to geosciences by representing a mechanism of water storage and transport in the depths of the Earth.