Raman spectroscopic study of the mineral shattuckite Cu5(SiO3)4(OH)2

Shattuckite Cu(5)(SiO(3))(4)(OH)(2) is a copper hydroxy silicate and is commonly known as a 'healing' mineral. Three shattuckite mineral samples from three different origins were analysed by Raman spectroscopy. Some Raman bands are common in the spectra of the minerals. Raman bands at around 890, 1058 and 1102 are described as the ν(3) -SiO(3) antisymmetric stretching vibrations. The Raman band at 670cm(-1) is assigned to the ν(4) bending modes of the -SiO(3) units and the band at around 785cm(-1)is due to Si-O-Si chain stretching mode. Raman (and infrared) spectroscopy proves that water is in the molecular structure of shattuckite; thus the formula is better written as Cu(5)(SiO(3))(4)(OH)(2)·xH(2)O.