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Structure and Population of Complex Ionic Species in FeCl<sub>2</sub> Aqueous Solution by X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy
oleh: Uroš Luin, Iztok Arčon, Matjaz Valant
Format: | Article |
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Diterbitkan: | MDPI AG 2022-01-01 |
Deskripsi
Technologies for mass production require cheap and abundant materials such as ferrous chloride (FeCl<sub>2</sub>). The literature survey shows the lack of experimental studies to validate theoretical conclusions related to the population of ionic Fe-species in the aqueous FeCl<sub>2</sub> solution. Here, we present an in situ X-ray absorption study of the structure of the ionic species in the FeCl<sub>2</sub> aqueous solution at different concentrations (1–4 molL<sup>−1</sup>) and temperatures (25–80 °C). We found that at low temperature and low FeCl<sub>2</sub> concentration, the octahedral first coordination sphere around Fe is occupied by one Cl ion at a distance of 2.33 (±0.02) Å and five water molecules at a distance of 2.095 (±0.005) Å. The structure of the ionic complex gradually changes with an increase in temperature and/or concentration. The apical water molecule is substituted by a chlorine ion to yield a neutral Fe[Cl<sub>2</sub>(H<sub>2</sub>O)<sub>4</sub>]<sup>0</sup>. The observed substitutional mechanism is facilitated by the presence of the intramolecular hydrogen bonds as well as entropic reasons. The transition from the single charged Fe[Cl(H<sub>2</sub>O)<sub>5</sub>]<sup>+</sup> to the neutral Fe[Cl<sub>2</sub>(H<sub>2</sub>O)<sub>4</sub>]<sup>0</sup> causes a significant drop in the solution conductivity, which well correlates with the existing conductivity models.