Our examination of over 230 worldwide opal samples shows that X-ray diffraction (XRD) remains the best primary method for delineation and classification of opal-A, opal-CT and opal-C, though we found that mid-range infra-red spectroscopy provides an acceptable alternative. Raman, infra-red and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy may also provide additional information to assist in classification and provenance. The corpus of results indicated that the opal-CT group covers a range of structural states and will benefit from further multi-technique analysis. At the one end are the opal-CTs that provide a simple XRD pattern (“simple” opal-CT) that includes Ethiopian play-of-colour samples, which are not opal-A. At the other end of the range are those opal-CTs that give a complex XRD pattern (“complex” opal-CT). The majority of opal-CT samples fall at this end of the range, though some show play-of-colour. Raman spectra provide some correlation. Specimens from new opal finds were examined. Those from Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, Peru, Tanzania and Turkey all proved to be opal-CT. Of the three specimens examined from Indonesian localities, one proved to be opal-A, while a second sample and the play-of-colour opal from West Java was a “simple” Opal-CT. Evidence for two transitional types having characteristics of opal-A and opal-CT, and “simple” opal-CT and opal-C are presented.

A Review of the Classification of Opal with Reference to Recent New Localities

Raman spectroscopy applied to Gemmology

In this study, the inclusion of graphene oxide in silica photonic crystals was found to affect optical reflectance intensity and reflectance peak broadening. The quantitative relationship between weight percentage and the reflected light intensity and corresponding wavelength shift of light GO-decorated photonic crystals was studied, providing a useful parameter in the rational design of antireflection coatings for GO-based photonic crystal films. Comparison of the experimental results with a pure SiO2 particle film shows that a SiO2 particle surface layer incorporated with a fixed graphene oxide weight percentage results in broadening of the peak and a decrease in reflectance intensity. The percentage of the reduction in reflectance intensity is a function of particle size, as indicated by the structured color film surface, demonstrating the possibility of estimating the effect of different graphene oxide inclusion percentages on the antireflection properties of photonic crystal films.

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Effect of graphene oxide inclusion on the optical reflection of a silica photonic crystal film

Influence of sodium peroxide during the synthesis of SiO2 obtained from rice husk

Synthetic silica opals were investigated by infrared and Raman spectroscopies. Vibrational modes associated with molecular groups of opal globules and admixtures were detected. Similarities in Raman and infrared spectra of synthetic opal with reference fused and α-quartz indicate the presence of amorphous phase in opal globules. Also some spectral bands designate on modified optical stretching vibrations at 1000-1200 cm−1 and bigger amount of Si-H defects in photonic crystal.

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/38/1/012008/pdf

Vibrational spectra of opal-based photonic crystals

Quantitative assessment of the vibrational features of nanocrystalline hydrated silicas is still not yet ascertained, although this is a relevant issue in silica physics. In this work, we examine the vibrational states in two generic opaline silicas. PM3 semiempirical calculations on finite SiO(2) hydrated clusters prove that the low-frequency Raman lines experimentally observed at similar to 307, 340, and 370 cm(-1) and the high-frequency ones at 790 cm(-1) and 1080 cm(-1) stem from O-Si-O bending vibrations in six-membered rings of corner-shared SiO(4) tetrahedra and O-Si-O symmetric/asymmetric stretch vibrations, respectively. Lattice dynamical calculations on crystalline silica polymorphs show that the predominance of tridymite over cristobalite in opaline silicas cannot be established due to the intrinsic nanoscale crystalline order of the materials. We conclude that the vibrational variations observed between opaline silicas are due to gradual formations of six-membered rings in a disordered SiO(2) matrix.

Viacheslav Grigorevich Ivanov

Papers

Vibrational States in Opals Revisited