Concept
Silicate mineral
Related concepts (55)
Montmorillonite
Montmorillonite is a very soft phyllosilicate group of minerals that form when they precipitate from water solution as microscopic crystals, known as clay. It is named after Montmorillon in France. Montmorillonite, a member of the smectite group, is a 2:1 clay, meaning that it has two tetrahedral sheets of silica sandwiching a central octahedral sheet of alumina. The particles are plate-shaped with an average diameter around 1 μm and a thickness of 0.
Palygorskite
Palygorskite or attapulgite is a magnesium aluminium phyllosilicate with the chemical formula ) that occurs in a type of clay soil common to the Southeastern United States. It is one of the types of fuller's earth. Some smaller deposits of this mineral can be found in Mexico, where its use is tied to the manufacture of Maya blue in pre-Columbian times. Palygorskite was first described in 1862 for a deposit at Palygorskaya on the Popovka River, Middle Urals, Permskaya Oblast, Russia. The synonym attapulgite is derived from the U.
Andradite
Andradite is a mineral species of the garnet group. It is a nesosilicate, with formula Ca3Fe2Si3O12. Andradite includes three varieties: Melanite: Black in color, referred to as "titanian andradite". Demantoid: Vivid green in color, one of the most valuable and rare stones in the gemological world. Topazolite: Yellow-green in color and sometimes of high enough quality to be cut into a faceted gemstone, it is rarer than demantoid. It was first described in 1868 for an occurrence in Drammen, Buskerud, Norway.
Sepiolite
Sepiolite, also known in English by the German name meerschaum (ˈmɪərʃɔːm , -ʃəm ; ˈmeːɐ̯ʃaʊm; meaning "sea foam"), is a soft white clay mineral, often used to make tobacco pipes (known as meerschaum pipes). A complex magnesium silicate, a typical chemical formula for which is Mg4Si6O15(OH)2·6H2O, it can be present in fibrous, fine-particulate, and solid forms. The fibrous clay minerals have recently been shown to exist as a continuous polysomatic series where the endmembers are sepiolite and palygorskite.
Silicon–oxygen bond
A silicon–oxygen bond ( bond) is a chemical bond between silicon and oxygen atoms that can be found in many inorganic and organic compounds. In a silicon–oxygen bond, electrons are shared unequally between the two atoms, with oxygen taking the larger share due to its greater electronegativity. This polarisation means Si–O bonds show characteristics of both covalent and ionic bonds. Compounds containing silicon–oxygen bonds include materials of major geological and industrial significance such as silica, silicate minerals and silicone polymers like polydimethylsiloxane.