oxidesilicate

Oxidesilicate is a descriptive term for materials that contain both oxide and silicate components within their crystalline or amorphous structure. It is not a formal mineralogical class; rather, it is used in geology and materials science to indicate a mixed anion framework where silicate units (typically SiO4 tetrahedra) coexist with oxide groups or oxide-containing polyhedra.

Structurally, silicate networks are built from SiO4 tetrahedra linked by shared oxygen atoms to form chains, sheets, or frameworks. Oxide components—such as metal-oxygen polyhedra (for example MOx where M is a metal cation)—are incorporated into or adjacent to these silicate networks. The interplay between silicate connectivity and oxide substructures can create complex crystal chemistry, with a wide range of cation substitutions and coordination environments.

Occurrence: In natural settings, the term is not a standard mineral group; oxidesilicate-like compositions are more often found in complex silicate minerals with abundant oxide sublattices or in synthetic materials. In materials science, oxidesilicates are studied as mixed-oxide ceramics and specialty glasses, where the oxide components modify properties of silicate matrices.

Properties and applications: The combination of silicate frameworks with oxide phases can influence thermal stability, hardness, dielectric or optical properties, and ionic conductivity. Oxidesilicate materials are explored for ceramics, coatings, catalysts, and optical components.

See also: Silicate minerals, Oxide minerals, Complex oxides, Glass science.