Silicate
Encyclopedia
A silicate is a compound
containing a silicon
bearing anion. The great majority of silicates are oxide
s, but hexafluorosilicate ([SiF6]2−) and other anions are also included. This article focuses mainly on the Si-O anions. Silicates comprise the majority of the earth's crust, as well as the other terrestrial planets, rocky moons, and asteroids. Sand, Portland cement
, and thousands of minerals are examples of silicates.
Silicate compounds, including the minerals, consist of silicate anions whose charge is balanced by various cations. Myriad silicate anions can exist, and each can form compounds with many different cations. Hence this class of compounds is very large. Both minerals and synthetic materials fit in this class.
, the Si occupies a tetrahedral
environment, being surrounded by 4 oxygen centres. In these structures, the chemical bonds to silicon conform to the octet rule
. These tetrahedra sometimes occur as isolated SiO44- centres, but most commonly, the tetrahedra are joined together in various ways, such as pairs (Si2O76-) and rings (Si6O1812-). Commonly the silicate anions are chains, double chains, sheets, and three-dimensional frameworks. All such species have negligible solubility in water at normal conditions.
s.
coordination by 6 oxygen centres is observed. At very high pressure, even SiO2 adopts this geometry in the mineral stishovite
, a dense polymorph of silica found in the lower mantle of the Earth. This structure is also formed by shock during meteorite
impacts. Octahedral Si in the form of hexahydroxysilicate ([Si(OH)6]2−) is observed in thaumasite
a mineral occurring rarely in nature but sometimes observed amongst other calcium silicate hydrate
artificially formed in cement
and concrete
submitted to a severe sulfate attack.
and astronomy
, the term silicate is used to denote types of rock
that consist predominantly of silicate minerals
. On Earth, a wide variety of silicate minerals occur in an even wider range of combinations as a result of the processes that form and re-work the crust. These processes include partial melting
, crystallization
, fractionation
, metamorphism
, weathering
and diagenesis
. Living things also contribute to the silicate cycle near the Earth's surface. A type of plankton
known as diatom
s construct their exoskeleton
s, known as tests, from silica. The tests of dead diatoms are a major constituent of deep ocean sediment
.
Silica, or silicon dioxide
, SiO2, is sometimes considered a silicate, although it is the special case with no negative charge and no need for counter-ions. Silica is found in nature as the mineral
quartz
, and its polymorphs
.
, silicate minerals
are divided according to structure of their silicate anion into the following groups:
Note that tectosilicates can only have additional cations if some of the silicon is replaced by a lower-charge cation such as aluminium
. Al for Si substitution is common.
Chemical compound
A chemical compound is a pure chemical substance consisting of two or more different chemical elements that can be separated into simpler substances by chemical reactions. Chemical compounds have a unique and defined chemical structure; they consist of a fixed ratio of atoms that are held together...
containing a silicon
Silicon
Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. A tetravalent metalloid, it is less reactive than its chemical analog carbon, the nonmetal directly above it in the periodic table, but more reactive than germanium, the metalloid directly below it in the table...
bearing anion. The great majority of silicates are oxide
Oxide
An oxide is a chemical compound that contains at least one oxygen atom in its chemical formula. Metal oxides typically contain an anion of oxygen in the oxidation state of −2....
s, but hexafluorosilicate ([SiF6]2−) and other anions are also included. This article focuses mainly on the Si-O anions. Silicates comprise the majority of the earth's crust, as well as the other terrestrial planets, rocky moons, and asteroids. Sand, Portland cement
Portland cement
Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world because it is a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco and most non-specialty grout...
, and thousands of minerals are examples of silicates.
Silicate compounds, including the minerals, consist of silicate anions whose charge is balanced by various cations. Myriad silicate anions can exist, and each can form compounds with many different cations. Hence this class of compounds is very large. Both minerals and synthetic materials fit in this class.
Structural principles
In the vast majority of silicates, including silicate mineralsSilicate minerals
The silicate minerals make up the largest and most important class of rock-forming minerals, constituting approximately 90 percent of the crust of the Earth. They are classified based on the structure of their silicate group...
, the Si occupies a tetrahedral
Tetrahedron
In geometry, a tetrahedron is a polyhedron composed of four triangular faces, three of which meet at each vertex. A regular tetrahedron is one in which the four triangles are regular, or "equilateral", and is one of the Platonic solids...
environment, being surrounded by 4 oxygen centres. In these structures, the chemical bonds to silicon conform to the octet rule
Octet rule
The octet rule is a chemical rule of thumb that states that atoms of low The octet rule is a chemical rule of thumb that states that atoms of low The octet rule is a chemical rule of thumb that states that atoms of low (The octet rule is a chemical rule of thumb that states that atoms of low (...
. These tetrahedra sometimes occur as isolated SiO44- centres, but most commonly, the tetrahedra are joined together in various ways, such as pairs (Si2O76-) and rings (Si6O1812-). Commonly the silicate anions are chains, double chains, sheets, and three-dimensional frameworks. All such species have negligible solubility in water at normal conditions.
Occurrence in solution
Silicates are well characterized as solids, but are less commonly observed in solution. The anion SiO44- is the conjugate base of silicic acid, Si(OH)4, and both are elusive as are all of the intermediate species. Instead, solutions of silicates usually observed as mixtures of condensed and partially protonated silicate clusters. The nature of soluble silicates is relevant to understanding biomineralization and the synthesis of aluminosilicates, such as the industrially important catalysts called zeoliteZeolite
Zeolites are microporous, aluminosilicate minerals commonly used as commercial adsorbents. The term zeolite was originally coined in 1756 by Swedish mineralogist Axel Fredrik Cronstedt, who observed that upon rapidly heating the material stilbite, it produced large amounts of steam from water that...
s.
Silicates with non-tetrahedral silicon
Although the tetrahedron is the common coordination geometry for silicon compounds, silicon is well known to also adopt higher. A well known example of such a high coordination number is hexafluorosilicate (SiF62-). OctahedralOctahedron
In geometry, an octahedron is a polyhedron with eight faces. A regular octahedron is a Platonic solid composed of eight equilateral triangles, four of which meet at each vertex....
coordination by 6 oxygen centres is observed. At very high pressure, even SiO2 adopts this geometry in the mineral stishovite
Stishovite
Stishovite is an extremely hard, dense tetragonal form of silicon dioxide. It was long considered the hardest known oxide; however, boron suboxide has recently been discovered to be much harder...
, a dense polymorph of silica found in the lower mantle of the Earth. This structure is also formed by shock during meteorite
Meteorite
A meteorite is a natural object originating in outer space that survives impact with the Earth's surface. Meteorites can be big or small. Most meteorites derive from small astronomical objects called meteoroids, but they are also sometimes produced by impacts of asteroids...
impacts. Octahedral Si in the form of hexahydroxysilicate ([Si(OH)6]2−) is observed in thaumasite
Thaumasite
-External links:*...
a mineral occurring rarely in nature but sometimes observed amongst other calcium silicate hydrate
Calcium silicate hydrate
Calcium Silicate Hydrate is the main product of the hydration of Portland cement and is primarily responsible for the strength in cement based materials.-Preparation:...
artificially formed in cement
Cement
In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...
and concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
submitted to a severe sulfate attack.
Silicate rock and minerals
In geologyGeology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
and astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
, the term silicate is used to denote types of rock
Rock (geology)
In geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...
that consist predominantly of silicate minerals
Silicate minerals
The silicate minerals make up the largest and most important class of rock-forming minerals, constituting approximately 90 percent of the crust of the Earth. They are classified based on the structure of their silicate group...
. On Earth, a wide variety of silicate minerals occur in an even wider range of combinations as a result of the processes that form and re-work the crust. These processes include partial melting
Melting
Melting, or fusion, is a physical process that results in the phase change of a substance from a solid to a liquid. The internal energy of a substance is increased, typically by the application of heat or pressure, resulting in a rise of its temperature to the melting point, at which the rigid...
, crystallization
Crystallization
Crystallization is the process of formation of solid crystals precipitating from a solution, melt or more rarely deposited directly from a gas. Crystallization is also a chemical solid–liquid separation technique, in which mass transfer of a solute from the liquid solution to a pure solid...
, fractionation
Fractionation
See also: Fractionated spacecraftFractionation is a separation process in which a certain quantity of a mixture is divided up in a number of smaller quantities in which the composition changes according to a gradient. Fractions are collected based on differences in a specific property of the...
, metamorphism
Metamorphism
Metamorphism is the solid-state recrystallization of pre-existing rocks due to changes in physical and chemical conditions, primarily heat, pressure, and the introduction of chemically active fluids. Mineralogical, chemical and crystallographic changes can occur during this process...
, weathering
Weathering
Weathering is the breaking down of rocks, soils and minerals as well as artificial materials through contact with the Earth's atmosphere, biota and waters...
and diagenesis
Diagenesis
In geology and oceanography, diagenesis is any chemical, physical, or biological change undergone by a sediment after its initial deposition and during and after its lithification, exclusive of surface alteration and metamorphism. These changes happen at relatively low temperatures and pressures...
. Living things also contribute to the silicate cycle near the Earth's surface. A type of plankton
Plankton
Plankton are any drifting organisms that inhabit the pelagic zone of oceans, seas, or bodies of fresh water. That is, plankton are defined by their ecological niche rather than phylogenetic or taxonomic classification...
known as diatom
Diatom
Diatoms are a major group of algae, and are one of the most common types of phytoplankton. Most diatoms are unicellular, although they can exist as colonies in the shape of filaments or ribbons , fans , zigzags , or stellate colonies . Diatoms are producers within the food chain...
s construct their exoskeleton
Exoskeleton
An exoskeleton is the external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to the internal skeleton of, for example, a human. In popular usage, some of the larger kinds of exoskeletons are known as "shells". Examples of exoskeleton animals include insects such as grasshoppers...
s, known as tests, from silica. The tests of dead diatoms are a major constituent of deep ocean sediment
Sediment
Sediment is naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of fluids such as wind, water, or ice, and/or by the force of gravity acting on the particle itself....
.
Silica, or silicon dioxide
Silicon dioxide
The chemical compound silicon dioxide, also known as silica , is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula '. It has been known for its hardness since antiquity...
, SiO2, is sometimes considered a silicate, although it is the special case with no negative charge and no need for counter-ions. Silica is found in nature as the mineral
Mineral
A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...
quartz
Quartz
Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...
, and its polymorphs
Polymorphism (materials science)
Polymorphism in materials science is the ability of a solid material to exist in more than one form or crystal structure. Polymorphism can potentially be found in any crystalline material including polymers, minerals, and metals, and is related to allotropy, which refers to chemical elements...
.
Mineralogy
MineralogicallyMineralogy
Mineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...
, silicate minerals
Silicate minerals
The silicate minerals make up the largest and most important class of rock-forming minerals, constituting approximately 90 percent of the crust of the Earth. They are classified based on the structure of their silicate group...
are divided according to structure of their silicate anion into the following groups:
- Nesosilicates (lone tetrahedron) - [SiO4]4−, e.g. olivineOlivineThe mineral olivine is a magnesium iron silicate with the formula 2SiO4. It is a common mineral in the Earth's subsurface but weathers quickly on the surface....
. - Sorosilicates (double tetrahedra) - [Si2O7]6−, e.g. epidoteEpidoteEpidote is a calcium aluminium iron sorosilicate mineral, Ca2Al2O, crystallizing in the monoclinic system. Well-developed crystals are of frequent occurrence: they are commonly prismatic in habit, the direction of elongation being perpendicular to the single plane of symmetry. The faces are often...
, meliliteMeliliteMelilite refers to a mineral of the melilite group. Minerals of the group are solid solutions of several endmembers, the most important of which are gehlenite and åkermanite. A generalized formula for common melilite is 2[SiO7]. Discovered in 1793 near Rome, it has a yellowish, greenish brown color...
group. - Cyclosilicates (rings) - [SinO3n]2n−, e.g. tourmalineTourmalineTourmaline is a crystal boron silicate mineral compounded with elements such as aluminium, iron, magnesium, sodium, lithium, or potassium. Tourmaline is classified as a semi-precious stone and the gem comes in a wide variety of colors...
group. - Inosilicates (single chain) - [SinO3n]2n−, e.g. pyroxenePyroxeneThe pyroxenes are a group of important rock-forming inosilicate minerals found in many igneous and metamorphic rocks. They share a common structure consisting of single chains of silica tetrahedra and they crystallize in the monoclinic and orthorhombic systems...
group. - Inosilicates(double chain) - [Si4nO11n]6n−, e.g. amphiboleAmphiboleAmphibole is the name of an important group of generally dark-colored rock-forming inosilicate minerals, composed of double chain tetrahedra, linked at the vertices and generally containing ions of iron and/or magnesium in their structures.-Mineralogy:...
group. - Phyllosilicates (sheets) - [Si2nO5n]2n−, e.g. micaMicaThe mica group of sheet silicate minerals includes several closely related materials having highly perfect basal cleavage. All are monoclinic, with a tendency towards pseudohexagonal crystals, and are similar in chemical composition...
s and clayClayClay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
s. - Tectosilicates (3D framework) - [AlxSiyO2(x+y)]x−, e.g. quartzQuartzQuartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...
, feldsparFeldsparFeldspars are a group of rock-forming tectosilicate minerals which make up as much as 60% of the Earth's crust....
s, zeoliteZeoliteZeolites are microporous, aluminosilicate minerals commonly used as commercial adsorbents. The term zeolite was originally coined in 1756 by Swedish mineralogist Axel Fredrik Cronstedt, who observed that upon rapidly heating the material stilbite, it produced large amounts of steam from water that...
s.
Note that tectosilicates can only have additional cations if some of the silicon is replaced by a lower-charge cation such as aluminium
Aluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
. Al for Si substitution is common.