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Periodic and non-periodic stacking in molybdenite (MoS2) revealed by STEM

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Published/Copyright: May 27, 2022
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American Mineralogist
From the journal American Mineralogist Volume 107 Issue 6

Abstract

Polytypism is a typical feature of layered minerals with differences only in stacking sequences. There is no obvious “phase” boundary among different polytypes, although the frequency of polytypes occurrence is related to its crystallization environment. In the past decades, X‑ray studies of molybdenite specimens from a variety of geological environments have revealed that most molybdenite crystals contain both 2H1 (hexagonal) and 3R (rhombohedral) polytypes. However, the stacking sequences of these molybdenite polytypic intergrowths and their formation mechanism are not well understood. Here, we report stacking faults and domains of long-period polytypes identified by high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) in a molybdenite sample from a carbonatite vein in the Huanglongpu Mo-Pb ore deposit in Qinling orogenic belt, Northern China. Several layers of disordered domains intergrown with ordered 2H1 domain were recognized based on the contrast in HAADF image with one-dimensional lattice fringes. In addition, a 30-layer long-period polytype was unambiguously identified by a STEM image. The stacking sequences of 4-, 6-, and 8-layer disordered domains and the 30-layer long-period polytype were further examined using HRSTEM images at the atomic resolution. A 2H3 polytype with three repetitions was also discovered in the sample. We propose that non-equilibrium conditions related to the fluctuation of fluid composition during crystallization resulted in the oscillation of 2H1 and 3R polytypes and intergrowth of various disordered domains. More broadly, our study demonstrates that HAADF-STEM imaging method may be applicable for studying other disordered layered crystals and twinned minerals.

Keywords: Molybdenite (MoS2); polytype; non-equilibrium crystallization; HAADF-STEM; layered minerals; stacking fault; Applications of Fluid; Mineral; and Melt Inclusions

‡ Special collection papers can be found online at http://www.minsocam.org/MSA/AmMin/special-collections.html.

Acknowledgments and Funding

The authors thank Daniel Hummer for handling this paper, and two anonymous reviewer for reviewing the manuscript and providing constructive comments and suggestions. This study was financially supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2018YFA0702600), China National Funds for Distinguished Young Scientists (Grant No. 41825003), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41772039 and 41921003), Youth Innovation Promotion Association CAS (Grant No. 2021353), CAS Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences (Grant No. QYZDJ-SSW-DQC023), Tuguangchi Award for Excellent Young Scholar GIG, CAS, and Science and Technology Planning of Guangdong Province, China (2020B1212060055). This is Contribution No. IS-3170 from GIG-CAS.

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Received: 2021-02-16
Accepted: 2021-06-23
Published Online: 2022-05-27
Published in Print: 2022-05-27

© 2022 Mineralogical Society of America

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Periodic and non-periodic stacking in molybdenite (MoS2) revealed by STEM
  2. The effect of halogens (F, Cl) on the near-liquidus crystallinity of a hydrous trachyte melt
  3. Occurrence of tuite and ahrensite in Zagami and their significance for shock-histories recorded in martian meteorites
  4. Zolenskyite, FeCr2S4, a new sulfide mineral from the Indarch meteorite
  5. Refined estimation of Li in mica by a machine learning method
  6. Olivine in picrites from continental flood basalt provinces classified using machine learning
  7. The glass transition and the non-Arrhenian viscosity of carbonate melts
  8. Etching of fission tracks in monazite: Further evidence from optical and focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy
  9. The low-temperature shift of antigorite dehydration in the presence of sodium chloride: In situ diffraction study up to 3 GPa and 700 °C
  10. Chemistry-dependent Raman spectral features of glauconite and nontronite: Implications for mineral identification and provenance analysis
  11. Experimental determination of solubility constants of saponite at elevated temperatures in high ionic strength solutions
  12. Hydrothermal troctolite alteration at 300 and 400 °C: Insights from flexible Au-reaction cell batch experimental investigations
  13. Timescales and rates of intrusive and metamorphic processes determined from zircon and garnet in migmatitic granulite, Fiordland, New Zealand
  14. In situ chemical and isotopic analyses and element mapping of multiple-generation pyrite: Evidence of episodic gold mobilization and deposition for the Qiucun epithermal gold deposit in Southeast China
  15. Hydrothermal mineralization of celadonite: Hybridized fluid–basalt interaction in Janggi, Korea
  16. Gungerite, TlAs5Sb4S13, a new thallium sulfosalt with a complex structure containing covalent As-As bonds
  17. Nitscheite, (NH4)2[(UO2)2(SO4)3(H2O)2]·3H2O, a new mineral with an unusual uranyl-sulfate sheet
  18. Protocaseyite, a new decavanadate mineral containing a [Al4(OH)6(H2O)12]6+ linear tetramer, a novel isopolycation
  19. Fission-track etching in apatite: A model and some implications
  20. Hydrothermal monazite trumps rutile: Applying U-Pb geochronology to evaluate complex mineralization ages of the Katbasu Au-Cu deposit, Western Tianshan, Northwest China
  21. Erratum
https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2022-8019
Keywords for this article
Molybdenite (MoS2); polytype; non-equilibrium crystallization; HAADF-STEM; layered minerals; stacking fault; Applications of Fluid; Mineral; and Melt Inclusions

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Periodic and non-periodic stacking in molybdenite (MoS2) revealed by STEM
  2. The effect of halogens (F, Cl) on the near-liquidus crystallinity of a hydrous trachyte melt
  3. Occurrence of tuite and ahrensite in Zagami and their significance for shock-histories recorded in martian meteorites
  4. Zolenskyite, FeCr2S4, a new sulfide mineral from the Indarch meteorite
  5. Refined estimation of Li in mica by a machine learning method
  6. Olivine in picrites from continental flood basalt provinces classified using machine learning
  7. The glass transition and the non-Arrhenian viscosity of carbonate melts
  8. Etching of fission tracks in monazite: Further evidence from optical and focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy
  9. The low-temperature shift of antigorite dehydration in the presence of sodium chloride: In situ diffraction study up to 3 GPa and 700 °C
  10. Chemistry-dependent Raman spectral features of glauconite and nontronite: Implications for mineral identification and provenance analysis
  11. Experimental determination of solubility constants of saponite at elevated temperatures in high ionic strength solutions
  12. Hydrothermal troctolite alteration at 300 and 400 °C: Insights from flexible Au-reaction cell batch experimental investigations
  13. Timescales and rates of intrusive and metamorphic processes determined from zircon and garnet in migmatitic granulite, Fiordland, New Zealand
  14. In situ chemical and isotopic analyses and element mapping of multiple-generation pyrite: Evidence of episodic gold mobilization and deposition for the Qiucun epithermal gold deposit in Southeast China
  15. Hydrothermal mineralization of celadonite: Hybridized fluid–basalt interaction in Janggi, Korea
  16. Gungerite, TlAs5Sb4S13, a new thallium sulfosalt with a complex structure containing covalent As-As bonds
  17. Nitscheite, (NH4)2[(UO2)2(SO4)3(H2O)2]·3H2O, a new mineral with an unusual uranyl-sulfate sheet
  18. Protocaseyite, a new decavanadate mineral containing a [Al4(OH)6(H2O)12]6+ linear tetramer, a novel isopolycation
  19. Fission-track etching in apatite: A model and some implications
  20. Hydrothermal monazite trumps rutile: Applying U-Pb geochronology to evaluate complex mineralization ages of the Katbasu Au-Cu deposit, Western Tianshan, Northwest China
  21. Erratum
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