Nickel orthosilicate (Ni_2SiO_4) has been found to decompose into its component binary oxides in oxygen potential gradients at 1373 K. Nickel oxide was formed at the high oxygen potential boundary, while silica was detected at the low oxygen potential side. Significant porosity and fissures were observed near the Ni_2SiO_4/SiO_2 interface and the SiO_2 layer. The critical oxygen partial pressure ratio required for decomposition varied from 1.63 to 2.15 as the oxygen pressures were altered from 1.01 ⊠ 10^5 to 2.7X 10^−4 Pa, well above the dissociation pressure of Ni_2SiO_4. Platinum markers placed at the boundaries of the Ni_2SiO_4 sample indicated growth of NiO at the higher oxygen potential boundary, without any apparent transport of material to the low oxygen potential side. However, significant movement of the bulk Ni_2SiO_4 crystal with respect to the marker was not observed. The decomposition of the silicate occurs due to the unequal rates of transport of Ni and Si. The critical oxygen partial pressure ratio required for decomposition is related both to the thermodynamic stability of Ni_2SiO_4 with respect to component oxides and the ratio of diffusivities of nickel and silicon. Kinetic decomposition of multicomponent oxides, first discovered by Schmalzried, Laqua, and co-workers [H. Schmalzried, W. Laqua, and P. L. Lin, Z. Natur Forsch. Teil A 34 , 192 (1979); H. Schmalzried and W. Laqua, Oxid. Met. 15 , 339 (1981); W. Laqua and H. Schmalzried, Chemical Metallurgy—A Tribute to Carl Wagner (Metallurgical Society of the AIME, New York, 1981), p. 29] has important consequences for their use at high temperatures and in geochemistry.
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