Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 July 2018
EPR spectroscopy was used to provide evidence for the existence of vanadium(IV) in two samples of rectorite. Possible sites for the vanadium are the tetrahedral and octahedral sites in the 2:1 layers and the non-exchangeable interlayer sites in the paragonite part of the structure. Consideration is given to each of these possibilities but the experimental evidence is insufficient to identify conclusively the location of the vanadium. Since substantial amounts of vanadium(IV) were present in the only well-defined rectorite samples obtainable, it is possible that the formation of rectorite is facilitated by the presence of vanadium.