Nano-scale synthesis of the complex silicate minerals forsterite and enstatite.

Olivine is a relatively common family of silicate minerals in many terrestrial and extraterrestrial environments, and is also useful as a refractory ceramic. A capability to synthesize fine particles of olivine will enable additional studies on surface reactivity under geologically relevant conditions. This paper presents a method for the synthesis of nanocrystalline samples of the magnesium end-member, forsterite (MgSiO) in relatively large batches (15-20g) using a sol-gel/surfactant approach.