Hybrid density functional based study on the band structure of trioctahedral mica and its dependence on the variation of Fe(2+) content.

A hybrid density functional based study of a phyllosilicate (PS) is presented here for the first time. Using all-electron electronic structure calculations with the B3LYP hybrid functional, we have investigated the electronic and structural properties of a series of trioctahedral 1M-polytype K-bearing micas starting from phlogopite (the Mg-end member), ending with the annite (the Fe-end member), and passing through the biotite (a solid solution of the end members). Electronic band gap is calculated for all the compositions and nature of the electronic transition is discussed with the aid of band structure and density of states plots. An excellent agreement with the available experimental data has been observed. An insulator to semiconductor transition is explained on the basis of orbital hybridization. A further comparison is made using the pure GGA functional. For the completeness of the study, the dielectric properties of phlogopite are calculated using the coupled perturbed Kohn-Sham scheme, as implemented within the CRYSTAL09 code.