Crystal structure of BaCa(CO₃)₂ alstonite carbonate and its phase stability upon compression

Abstract

New single-crystal X-ray diffraction experiments and density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the crystal chemistry of the CaO–BaO–CO₂ system is more complex than previously thought. We characterized the BaCa(CO₃)₂ alstonite structure at ambient conditions, which differs from the recently reported crystal structure of this mineral in the stacking of the carbonate groups. This structural change entails the existence of different cation coordination environments. The structural behavior of alstonite at high pressures was studied using synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction data and ab initio calculations up to 19 and 50 GPa, respectively. According to the experiments, above 9 GPa, the alstonite structure distorts into a monoclinic C2 phase derived from the initial trigonal structure. This is consistent with the appearance of imaginary frequencies and geometry relaxation in DFT calculations. Moreover, calculations predict a second phase transition at 24 GPa, which would cause the increase in the coordination number of Ba atoms from 10 to 11 and 12. We determined the equation of state of alstonite (V₀ = 1608(2) ų, B₀ = 60(3) GPa, B′₀ = 4.4(8) from experimental data) and analyzed the evolution of the polyhedral units under compression. The crystal chemistry of alstonite was compared to that of other carbonates and the relative stability of all known BaCa(CO₃)₂ polymorphs was investigated.