Phys.org November 21, 2022
Through the combination of low-temperature hydrothermal synthesis and room-temperature evaporation an international team of researchers (Russia, Czech Republic, USA – University of Notre Dame) has synthesized a mineral similar in composition and crystal structure to the Earth’s most complex mineral, ewingite. The crystal structures of both natural and synthetic compounds were based on supertetrahedral uranyl-carbonate nanoclusters that are arranged according to the cubic body-centered lattice principle. The structure and composition of the uranyl carbonate nanocluster were refined using the data on synthetic material. Although the stability of natural ewingite is higher (according to visual observation and experimental studies), the synthetic phase can be regarded as a primary and/or metastable reaction product which further re-crystallizes into a more stable form under environmental conditions…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLEÂ
The onset of crystallization of the synthetic ewingite-like compound (SE)… Credit: Materials 2022, 15(19), 6643Â