boehmite

{{Short description|Mineral}}

{{Infobox mineral

| name = Boehmite

| category = Oxide mineral

| image = Böhmite-89904.jpg

| imagesize = 260px

| alt =

| caption = Böhmite and Natrolite from Sagåsen (Strandåsen), Mørje, Porsgrunn, Telemark, Norway (Field of view 10 mm)

| formula = γ-AlO(OH)

| IMAsymbol=Bhm{{Cite journal|last=Warr|first=L.N.|date=2021|title=IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/mineralogical-magazine/article/imacnmnc-approved-mineral-symbols/62311F45ED37831D78603C6E6B25EE0A|journal=Mineralogical Magazine|volume=85|issue=3|pages=291–320|doi=10.1180/mgm.2021.43|bibcode=2021MinM...85..291W|s2cid=235729616|doi-access=free}}

| molweight =

| strunz = 4.FE.15

| dana = 6.1.2.1

| system = Orthorhombic

| class = Dipyramidal (mmm)
H-M symbol: (2/m 2/m 2/m)

| symmetry = Amam

| unit cell = a = 3.693 Å,
b = 12.221 Å,
c = 2.865 Å; Z = 4

| color = White, pale greyish brown; yellowish or reddish when impure; colorless in thin section

| colour =

| habit = Tabular crystal rare, fine grained in pisolitic aggregates or disseminated

| twinning =

| cleavage = Very good on {010}, good on {100}, and poor on {001}

| fracture = Uneven

| tenacity = Brittle

| mohs = 3.5

| luster = Vitreous, pearly on {010}

| streak = White

| diaphaneity = Translucent

| gravity = 3.02–3.05

| density =

| polish =

| opticalprop = Biaxial (+)

| refractive = n_α = 1.644 – 1.648 n_β = 1.654 – 1.657 n_γ = 1.661 – 1.668

| birefringence = δ = 0.017 – 0.020

| pleochroism =

| 2V = Measured: 74° to 88°, Calculated: 80°

| dispersion = weak

| extinction =

| length fast/slow =

| fluorescence=

| absorption =

| melt =

| fusibility =

| diagnostic =

| solubility =

| other =

| alteration =

| references = {{cite web|url=http://webmineral.com/data/Boehmite.shtml|title=Boehmite|publisher=Webmineral data|accessdate=2010-07-10}}{{cite web|url=http://www.mindat.org/min-707.html|title=Boehmite|publisher=Mindat with location data|accessdate=2010-07-10}}[http://rruff.geo.arizona.edu/doclib/hom/bohmite.pdf Mineral Data Pub. Handbook of Mineralogy]{{cite web|url=http://www.minerals.net/mineral/boehmite.aspx|title=The Mineral Boehmite|publisher=minerals.net|accessdate=June 10, 2014}}}}

Boehmite or böhmite is an aluminium oxide hydroxide (γ-AlO(OH)) mineral, a component of the aluminium ore bauxite. It is dimorphous with diaspore. It crystallizes in the orthorhombic dipyramidal system and is typically massive in habit. It is white with tints of yellow, green, brown or red due to impurities. It has a vitreous to pearly luster, a Mohs hardness of 3 to 3.5 and a specific gravity of 3.00 to 3.07. It is colorless in thin section, optically biaxial positive with refractive indices of nα = 1.644 – 1.648, nβ = 1.654 – 1.657 and nγ = 1.661 – 1.668.

Boehmite occurs in tropical laterites and bauxites developed on alumino-silicate bedrock. It also occurs as a hydrothermal alteration product of corundum and nepheline. It occurs with kaolinite, gibbsite and diaspore in bauxite deposits; and with nepheline, gibbsite, diaspore, natrolite and analcime in nepheline pegmatites. Industrially, it is used as an inexpensive flame retardant additive for fire-safe polymers.

It was first described by J. de Lapparent in 1927 for an occurrence in the bauxites of Mas Rouge, Les Baux-de-Provence, France, and named{{cite journal |title=Natural boehmite single crystals from Ceylon|journal=Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology|volume=39|issue=2|pages=171|date=1973|bibcode=1973CoMP...39..171S|last1=Sahama|first1=Th. G.|last2=Lehtinen|first2=Martti|last3=Rehtijärvi|first3=Pentti|doi=10.1007/BF00375738|s2cid=129237343}} for the Bohemian-German chemist Johann Böhm (1895–1952) who carried out X-ray studies of aluminium oxide hydroxides in 1925{{cite journal |doi=10.1002/zaac.19251490114|title=Über Aluminium- und Eisenhydroxyde. I|journal=Zeitschrift für anorganische und allgemeine Chemie|volume=149|pages=203–216|year=1925|last1=Böhm|first1=J.}} (and not for the German geologist Johannes Böhm (1857–1938) as often stated).