Analytical methods for measuring water in nominally anhydrous minerals

Abstract

Decades of work have shown that trace- to minor-amounts of hydrous components commonly occur in minerals whose chemical formula would be normally written without any hydrogen, namely, the nominally anhydrous minerals (NAMs). When the concentrations of the hydrous components are several tenths of a percent by weight or higher, a variety of analytical methods such as weight loss on heating, X-ray cell parameters, X-ray structure refinement, Karl-Fischer titrations, or even careful electron microprobe analyses can be used to establish their concentrations (e.g., Aines and Rossman 1991). However, for most NAMs, accurate determinations with these common analytical methods prove difficult if not impossible. For this reason, infrared (IR) spectroscopy has become, and remains, the most widely used method to detect and analyze hydrous components (OH or H_2O) in minerals and glasses because it is both highly sensitive and can be done rapidly with a commonly available, modestly priced instrument and at dimensions of just a few tens of micrometers. A change in the electric dipole occurs when the OH bond in either water and hydroxyl ions vibrate. This motion has a resonance coupling with electromagnetic radiation generally in the 3500 cm^(-1) region of the infrared spectrum. In addition, bending motions of the water molecule, and overtones and combination of these motions produce absorption in the infrared.