SILICATES, ITS STRUCTURE AND

CLASSIFICATION
• Silicates are the minerals containing silicon
and oxygen in tetrahedral SiO44- units, which
are linked together in several patterns.
• Silicates are the compounds of silicon and
oxygen.
• It consist of tetrahedra.
 SILICATES, ITS STRUCTURE AND
CLASSIFICATION CONT.
• (No O-O bond)
• (Only Si-O bond are present)
• These silicates may be discrete or may be
linked together by sharing corners(not by
sharing edges or faces)
 TYPES & CLASSIFICATION OF
SILICATES
• Depending on the way the tetrahedral units are linked,
the silicates are classified into the following types.
1. Ortho silicates (or Nesosilicates)
2. Pyro silicate (or Sorosilicates)
3. Cyclic silicates (or Ring silicates)
4. Chain silicates (or pyroxenes)
5. Double chain silicate (or amphiboles)
6. Sheet or phyllosilicates
7. Three dimensional (or tecto) silicates
 TYPES & CLASSIFICATION OF
SILICATES
Ortho silicates (or Neso or Island silicates) are
the simplest silicates which contain discrete
SiO44- tetrahedral units. The basic structural unit
of ortho silicate unit is shown below.
 TYPES & CLASSIFICATION OF
SILICATES
The orthosilicate ion is the strong conjugate base of
weak orthosilicic acid as well as it will not persist in
aqueous solutions. Hence in nature, orthosilicate
minerals are rare and only found with cations which
form highly insoluble salts.
Examples of Ortho silicates:
1) Phenacite (also known as phenakite) - Be2SiO4
2) Willemite - Zn2SiO4 - A minor silicate ore of zinc.
Highly fluorescent (green) under shortwave UV.
 TYPES & CLASSIFICATION OF
SILICATES
Note: The Be2+ and Zn2+ ions are tetrahedrally
surrounded by the oxygen atoms of silicate.
3) Olivine - (Fe/Mg)2SiO4 : Typically green in
color. The cations are octahedrally coordinated
to the oxygen atoms of the silicate.
4) Zircone - ZrSiO4 : The oldest mineral on
Earth. The coordination number of Zr 4+ is 8.
 TYPES & CLASSIFICATION OF
SILICATES
2) PYROSILICATES
• Pyrosilicate (or Soro silicate or
disilicate) contain ions which are formed by
joining two tetrahedral SiO44- which share one
oxygen atom at one corner (one oxygen is
removed while joining). Structure of
pyrosilicate is shown below.
 TYPES & CLASSIFICATION OF
SILICATES
The pyrosilicate ion is less basic than
orthosilicate ion. There only one mineral in
nature containing pyrosilicate ion.
E.g. 1) Thortveitite - Sc2Si2O7
 TYPES & CLASSIFICATION OF
SILICATES
3) CYCLIC OR RING SILICATES
Cyclic silicates contain (SiO3)n2n- ions which are
formed by linking three or more tetrahedral
SiO44- units cyclically. Each unit shares two
oxygen atoms with other units.
TYPES & CLASSIFICATION OF
SILICATES
 TYPES & CLASSIFICATION OF
SILICATES
E.g.
1) Benitoite - BaTi(SiO3)3 : containing three tetrahedra
arranged cyclically [Si3O9)6-].
2) Beryl - Be3Al2(SiO3)6 : containing six-silicate rings
[Si6O18)12-]. It is an aluminosilicate. Each aluminium is
surrounded by 6 oxygen atoms octahedrally. Well-known
varieties of beryl include emerald and aquamarine.
 TYPES & CLASSIFICATION OF
SILICATES
4) CHAIN SILICATES (INO-SILICATES,
METASILICATES, PYROXENES OR
LINEAR SILICATES)
Chain silicates or pyroxenes contain
(SiO3)n2n- ions which are formed by linking ‘n’
number of tetrahedral SiO 44- units linearly. Each
unit shares two oxygen atoms with other units.
TYPES & CLASSIFICATION OF
SILICATES
 TYPES & CLASSIFICATION OF
SILICATES
Examples of chain silicates:
1) Spodumene - LiAl(SiO3)2 - a pyroxene mineral
consisting of lithium aluminium inosilicate
2) Diopsite - CaMg(SiO3)2
3) Wollastonite - Ca3(SiO3)3
Note: The formula of cyclic silicates as well as chain
silicates is (SiO3)n2n-. Hence these are considered as
an oligomers of the unknown SiO 32- ion.
 TYPES & CLASSIFICATION OF
SILICATES
5) DOUBLE CHAIN SILICATES
(AMPHIBOLES)
The general formula of double chain silicates
(or Amphiboles) is (Si4O11)n6n- . There are two
types of tetrahedra: those sharing 3 vertices and
those sharing only 2 vertices.
TYPES & CLASSIFICATION OF
SILICATES
 TYPES & CLASSIFICATION OF
SILICATES
E.g.
1) Asbestos - These are noncombustible fibrous
silicates. They have been used for thermal insulation
material, brake linings, construction material and
filters. These are carcinogenic amphiboles affecting the
lungs. Hence their applications are restricted
nowadays.
2) Tremolite - Ca2Mg5(Si4O11)2(OH)2
Note: The single and double chain silicates are
collectively known as Inosilicates.
 TYPES & CLASSIFICATION OF
SILICATES
6) SHEET SILICATES (PHYLLO
SILICATES)
The general formula of Sheet or Phyllo or two
dimensional (2-D) silicates is .
Each SiO4 tetrahedron shares three oxygen
atoms with others and thus by forming two-
dimensional sheets. These silicates can be
cleaved easily just like graphite. The layers are
held together by weak van der Waal's forces.
TYPES & CLASSIFICATION OF
SILICATES
 TYPES & CLASSIFICATION OF
SILICATES
E.g.
1) Talc - Mg3Si4O10(OH)2 : It is the main ingredient of soap stone. It​is the
softest material with a smooth and greasy touch.
2) Micas : General formula is X2Y4–6Z8O20(OH,F)4
Where X = K, Na, or Ca
Y = Al, Mg, or Fe
Z = Si or Al
E.g. Muscovite mica - KAl2(AlSi3O10)(F,OH)2 - split into thin layers
extremely easily
and Lepidolite - KLi2Al(Al,Si)3O10(F,OH)2
3) Clay : It is an aluminosilicate with sheet structure.
4) Kaolinite - AlSiO5(OH)5
 TYPES & CLASSIFICATION OF
SILICATES
7) THREE DIMENSIONAL SILICATES (TECTO
SILICATES)
The general formula of three dimensional (3-D) or tecto or
Framework silicates is (SiO2)n . All the oxygen atoms of
SiO4 are shared with other tetrahedra and thus by forming three-
dimensional network.
E.g. SiO2 - Quartz, Tridymite and Crystobalite - These are the
crystalline forms of silica.
When SiO44- units are replaced by AlO45- units, three
dimensional aluminosilicates are formed.
E.g. Feldspar, Zeolites, Ult etc.,
 AF
A FEW IMPORTANT POINTS ABOUT SILICATES
BOUT SILICATES

 Silicate minerals are very common in the Earth crust since Oxygen
and Silicon are the most abundant elements.
 The degree of polymerization is denoted by Oxygen to Silicon ratio
(O/Si). Greater the degree of polymerization, lower will be the O/Si
ratio. The values of O/Si for ortho silicates (lease polymerized) =
4:1 while for tecto silicates (most polymerized silicate) = 2:1.
 With increase in the degree of polymerization, there is decrease in
the charge per silicon atom as well as the basicity of silicate
mineral. Indeed, silica (SiO2) is an acidic oxide.
 The basic silicate minerals readily react with weak acids and
undergo weathering.