First crystal-structure determination of natural lansfordite, MgCO3·5H2O. (1st October 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Nestola, Fabrizio; Kasatkin, Anatoly; Potapov, Sergey; Chervyatsova, Olga Ya.; Lanza, Arianna
• Is Part Of: Mineralogical magazine. Volume 81:Number 5(2017)
• Page Start: 1063
• Page End: 1071
• Publication Date: 2017-10-01
• Subjects: Mineralogy -- Periodicals; Mineralogy -- Great Britain -- Periodicals; 549.05
• DOI: 10.1180/minmag.2016.080.152
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0026-461X

Abstract

This study presents the first crystal-structure determination of natural MgCO3·5H2O, mineral lansfordite, in comparison with previous structural works performed on synthetic analogues. A new prototype singlecrystal X-ray diffractometer allowed us to measure an extremely small crystal (i.e. 0.020 mm × 0.010 mm × 0.005 mm) and refine anisotropically all non-hydrogen atoms in the structure and provide a robust hydrogen-bond arrangement. Our new data confirm that natural lansfordite can be stable for several months at room temperature, in contrast with previous works, which reported that such a mineral could be stable only below 10°C.