Spectral variability of the uranyl silicates uranophane-α and uranophane-β: polymorphism and luminescence

The luminescence of the uranyl cation UO₂²⁺ depends on the local crystalline environment and is sensitive to structural influences. Steady-state photoluminescence emission spectra of the related uranyl silicates uranophane-α, uranophane-β, sklodowskite and haiweeite from various locations are presented and discussed in the light of structure–property relation. The four mineral species were chosen for their close relationships: uranophane-α and uranophane-β are polymorphs and share the underlaying topology with sklodowskite. Haiweeite, with different topology, shares the composing elements Ca, U, Si, O with uranophane, while in sklodowskite Mg replaces Ca. All species show some variability in their spectra, parameterized as a variation of the centroid wavelength. Those variations are linked to defects and structural disorder, relevant in studies of uranyl speciation and migration. We present empiric spectra of the four mineral species with the least influence of structural disorder. As an unexpected feature, a prominent—partly dominating—double peak structure occurs in the case of uranophane-α only, while it is absent in the spectra of the other species. Considering a model of luminescent transitions in the uranyl ion in more detail, this observation is discussed in the light of the polymorphism of uranophane. We show evidence that variable amounts of uranophane-β phase embedded in uranophane-α are possibly at the origin of this spectral signature. Growth of those uranophane-β clusters might be induced by defects in the uranophane-α lattice and further promoted by the polymorphism of uranophane.