Crystal structure and thermal behavior of Bi 6 Te 2 O 15: Investigation of synthetic and natural pingguite

Gwilherm Nénert*, Owen P. Missen, Hong Lian, Matthias Weil, Graeme R. Blake, Anthony R. Kampf, Stuart J. Mills

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)
160 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The previously unknown crystal structure of pingguite was determined and refined from laboratory X-ray powder diffraction data using a synthetic sample. Additional single crystal diffraction of natural pingguite confirms that the crystal structure of the synthetic sample is identical to the natural mineral. This new crystal structure calls for a revised chemistry of the rare mineral pingguite to Bi6Te2O15 instead of the previously reported formula Bi6Te2O13. Pingguite contains TeVI only and not TeIV as previously reported. Pingguite undergoes an irreversible phase transition around 840 C which is characterized by a loss of oxygen and a reduction from TeVI to TeIV resulting in a δ-Bi2O3 like type structure. In addition, we report the Raman spectroscopic data on the natural pingguite.

Original languageEnglish
Article number53
Number of pages8
JournalPhysics and Chemistry of Minerals
Volume47
Issue number12
Early online date19-Nov-2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec-2020

Keywords

  • Blue Bell
  • California
  • Crystal structure
  • High-temperature transformation
  • Pingguite
  • Tellurate
  • USA

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