State of the structural hydroxyl groups in minerals of the kaolinite group according to infrared spectroscopic data

An interpretation of the IR spectra of kaolinite, dickite, and nacrite is proposed, based on the concept of resonance interaction of two intrasurface hydroxyl groups, and their manifestation in the spectrum as a split doublet 30 cm^–1 and by the individual vibration of a third intrasurface OH-group. The structural identification of each band in the IR spectra of the kaolinite minerals is given. It was demonstrated that thermal dehydroxylation under vacuum of kaolinite occurred in two stages with activation energies of 43 and 84 kJ/mole. The activation energy of proton delocalization of the structural hydroxyl groups of kaolinite has been evaluated (E 13 kJ/mole). The contribution of the energy of the interlayer hydrogen bonds (AH 28 kJ/mole) to the total cohesion energy of adjoining layers of kaolinite (E_c 165 kJ/mole) was calculated.Translated from Teoreticheskaya i Éksperimental'naya Khimiya, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 73–81, January–February, 1985.