Chemical synthesis and crystallographic data on iron doped cubic ye'elimite

Pure powders of ye'elimite Ca4Al6-2xFe2xSO16 particles containing iron were synthesized by chemical route for the first time, the maximum of ye'elimite formed was obtained at 1250 °C for 1 h. The increase in iron content in the reaction system is accompanied by the increase on amount of the iron-stabilized cubic phase after calcination at sufficient temperature, at the expense of the orthorhombic phase until a concentration of x = 1.13 where only the cubic phase is detected. The presence of iron also causes the formation of ferritic phases. A protocol of elimination of the ferritic phases was proposed. This chemical treatment with sodium dithionite was applied to compositions containing a large majority of cubic ye'elimite and the isolation of cubic ye'elimite grains was successful. Thanks to very fine crystallographic analyses, the crystal structure of Ca4[(Al4.74Fe1.26)O12]SO4, a cubic ye'elimite doped only with Fe2O3, has been successfully determined for the first time.