Where is the Hydrogen?

Elements, vol. 17, pp. 163–168

Abstract

How is hydrogen distributed among minerals and how is it bonded in their crystal structures? These are important questions, because the amount of hydrogen and the bonding configuration of hydrogen in crystalline materials governs many of that material’s properties: its thermal and compressional behavior, P–T phase stability, rheology, and electrical conductivity. A reliable reconstruction of the Earth’s interior, or the prediction of mineral transformations in complex industrial processes, must account for these parameters. Neutron diffraction can locate hydrogen sites in mineral structures, reveal any static or dynamic hydrogen disorder, help define the libration regime of hydrogen, and elucidate hydrogen-bonding configurations. Thus, that most elusive element for X-ray probes is perfectly detectable using neutrons.

Authors 3

1. Giacomo Diego Gatta

   University of Milan

   Affiliation as printed

   Dipartimento Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Botticelli 23, I-20133 Milano, Italy

2. K. Hradil

   TU Wien

   Affiliation as printed

   X-ray center, Technischen Universität Wien, Getreidemarkt 9, A-1060 Vienna, Austria

3. Martin Meven Aachen Institut für Kristallographie

   RWTH Aachen University · Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum

   Affiliation as printed

   Institut für Kristallographie, RWTH Aachen University and Jülich Centre for Neutron Science, FZ Juelich GmbH, at Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum, Lichtenbergstrasse 1, D-85747 Garching, Germany