Structural Characterization of Aluminum (Oxy)hydroxide Films at the Muscovite (001)−Water Interface

The formation of Al (oxy)hydroxide on the basal surface of muscovite mica was investigated to understand how the structure of the substrate controls the nucleation and growth of secondary phases. Atomic force microscopy images showed that solid phases nucleated on the surface initially as two-dimensional islands that were ≤10 Å in height and 100–200 Å in diameter after 16–50 h of reaction in a 100 μM AlCl3 solution at pH 4.2 at room temperature. High-resolution X-ray reflectivity data indicated that these islands had an internal atomic structure that resembles a single gibbsite layer, i.e., a plane of Al ions octahedrally coordinated to oxygen or hydroxyl groups. The formation of a gibbsite layer is likely favored because of the structural similarity between its basal plane and the underlying mica surface. After 700–2000 h of reaction, thicker and continuous films formed on top of the gibbsite-layer coated mica surface. X-ray diffraction data showed that these films were composed of diaspore whose formation was predicted by thermodynamic calculations. This diaspore film grew predominantly with its (040) and (140) crystallographic directions oriented along the muscovite (001) direction, indicating that the preformed metastable gibbsite layer acted as a structural anchor for the subsequent growth of thermodynamically stable diaspore.