Low crystallinity of unsubstituted goethites is characterized by a small coherently diffracting domain, which may be accompanied by another type of disorder revealed by broader IR half-absorbance band widths. Inside the unit cell, the H-bond is weaker, which increases the OH stretching frequency and lowers the bending frequencies. Also, an increase in parameter a and a change in Fe--O bonds, which might correspond to a minor tilting of octahedra, occur along with a lowering of the frequency of the 630 cm -1 band.In the previous paper of this series (Cambier, 1986), the problem of the relationship between crystallinity and IR properties of goethites was examined. The typical IR spectrum of goethites was discussed in an attempt to isolate which factors can influence the frequencies of major bands. For the OH bands, the effect of coupling between' the four OH in the unit cell was defined. For two lattice bands, the attribution of Verdonck et al. (1982) was discussed and the orientation of transition moments determined.It is now possible to specify how the IR spectra define the crystallinity of pure unsubstituted goethites, a series of which was prepared (Schwertmann et al., 1985). In an attempt to separate effects due to 'poor crystallinity' (interpreted as disorder) from effects due to particle size, a second series with varying crystallinity and constant particle size was added. A wide range of physico-chemical properties was considered previously (Schwertmann et al., 1985) whereas the purpose of the present paper is to demonstrate how IR absorption parameters clarify some aspects of the crystaUinity of goethites.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
SamplesTwo series of goethites were prepared. For the first, series 39/T, 50 ml of 1 M Fe(NO3) 3 solution were added to 450 ml of KOH kept at T~ to yield a final OH concentration of 0.70 ~l. The suspensions were stored at T for various periods of time (Table 1) until the oxalate-soluble iron fraction (Schwertmann, 1964) was <2%, indicating essentially complete crystallization. All the samples were pure goethites except that stored at 80~ which contained traces of hematite. This series showed better crystallinity and increasing 1986 The Mineralogical Society