Reversible hydration in synthetic mixite, BiCu6(OH)6(AsO4)3·nH2O (n≤3): hydration kinetics and crystal chemistry

 The presence of zeolitic water, with a reversible hydration behaviour, was determined by structural and kinetic studies on synthetic mixite BiCu₆(OH)₆(AsO₄)₃·nH₂O (n≤3). X-ray diffraction and infrared-spectroscopic investigations were performed on single crystals. Isothermal thermogravimetric experiments were carried out to determine the reaction kinetics of the de- and rehydration processes. The single-crystal structure refinement of a fully hydrated crystal yielded five partially occupied Ow positions (Ow=oxygen atom of a H₂O molecule) within the tube-like channels of the hexagonal BiCu₆(OH)₆(AsO₄)₃] framework. For the partially dehydrated form, with n≈1, at least two of these sites were found to be occupied significantly. In addition, the structural investigations allowed two different intra-framework hydrogen bonds to be distinguished that are independent of the extra-framework water distribution and are responsible for the stability of the self-supporting framework. The kinetic analysis of the rate data in the 298–343K temperature range shows that the dehydration behaviour obeys a diffusion-controlled reaction mechanism with an empirical activation energy of E _a ^dehyd=54±4 kJ mol^–1. A two-stage process controls rehydration of which the individual steps were attributed to an initial surface-controlled (E _a ^hyd-I=6±1 kJ mol^–1) and subsequent diffusion-controlled reaction mechanism (E _a ^hyd-II=12±1 kJ mol^–1). The estimated hydration enthalpy of 42±5 kJ mol^–1 supports the distribution model of molecular water within the channels based on a purely hydrogen-bonded network. Received June 26, 1996 / Revised, accepted November 11, 1996