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A neutron powder diffraction study of Fe and Ni distributions in synthetic pentlandite and violarite using 60Ni isotope

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Published/Copyright: March 31, 2015
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American Mineralogist
From the journal American Mineralogist Volume 91 Issue 8-9

Abstract

Cation ordering in two important iron nickel sulfide minerals, pentlandite and violarite, was studied by neutron powder diffraction using samples prepared with isotopically enriched 60Ni. Pentlandite of composition Fe4.8Ni4.2S-, annealed at 150° C for 1 month has a disordered Ni/Fe distribution with Ni occupying 57(2)% of the octahedral site and 46(1)% of the tetrahedral site with a unit cell repeat of 10.1075(1) Å. After annealing for a further 2 months at 150 °C the Ni/Fe distribution is still disordered with 53(2)% Ni in the octahedral site and 48(2)% Ni in the tetrahedral site and the cell parameter increased by 0.21% possibly due to slight readjustment of the Fe/Ni ratio.

Synthetic violarite, FeNi2S4, prepared at 300 °C, exhibits ordering of Ni onto the tetrahedral site, with Fe and the remaining Ni sharing the octahedral site. In situ neutron diffraction heating experiments in which pentlandite and violarite were heated up to 300 °C for 12 hours did not alter the Ni/Fe distribution between tetrahedral and octahedral sites. Violarite did not exhibit any evidence of magnetic ordering upon cooling to .173 °C. The interatomic distances in the two structures indicate that in pentlandite Fe2+ and Ni2+ are high spin and in violarite Fe2+ is low spin with Ni3+ with an inverted spinel structural type.

Keywords : Neutron diffraction; cation ordering; 60Ni isotope; pentlandite; violarite; thiospinel
Received: 2005-11-09
Accepted: 2006-05-03
Published Online: 2015-03-31
Published in Print: 2006-08-01

© 2015 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.2138/am.2006.2144
Keywords for this article
Neutron diffraction; cation ordering; 60Ni isotope; pentlandite; violarite; thiospinel

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Low-temperature Zr mobility: An in situ synchrotron-radiation XRF study of the effect of radiation damage in zircon on the element release in H2O + HCl ± SiO2 fluids
  2. Magnetic properties, microstructure, composition, and morphology of greigite nanocrystals in magnetotactic bacteria from electron holography and tomography
  3. Site preference and local geometry of Sc in garnets: Part I. Multifarious mechanisms in the pyrope-grossular join
  4. Site preference and local geometry of Sc in garnets: Part II. The crystal-chemistry of octahedral Sc in the andradite–Ca3Sc2Si3O12 join
  5. The arrojadite enigma: I. A new formula and a new model for the arrojadite structure
  6. The arrojadite enigma: II. Compositional space, new members, and nomenclature of the group
  7. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction and temperature dependent 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy on the hedenbergite-aegirine (Ca,Na)(Fe2+,Fe3+)Si2O6 solid solution
  8. Stacking structures in pyrophyllite revealed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM)
  9. Intensity of quartz cathodoluminescence and trace-element content in quartz from the porphyry copper deposit at Butte, Montana
  10. The fate of smectite in KOH solutions
  11. Light-induced changes in molecular arsenic sulfides: State of the art and new evidence by single-crystal X-ray diffraction
  12. Verifying and quantifying carbon Þ xation in minerals from serpentine-rich mine tailings using the Rietveld method with X-ray powder diffraction data
  13. Generation of pressures to ~60 GPa in Kawai-type apparatus and stability of MnGeO3 perovskite at high pressure and high temperature
  14. A model to predict phase equilibrium of CH4 and CO2 clathrate hydrate in aqueous electrolyte solutions
  15. Raman investigation of H2O molecule and hydroxyl groups in the channels of hemimorphite
  16. Stacking structure in disordered talc: Interpretation of its X-ray diffraction pattern by using pattern simulation and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy
  17. Electrical conductivities of pyrope-almandine garnets up to 19 GPa and 1700 °C
  18. Crystal chemistry and polytypism of tyrolite
  19. Effect of melt structure on trace-element partitioning between clinopyroxene and silicic, alkaline, aluminous melts
  20. Analysis of light lithophile elements (Li, Be, B) by laser ablation ICP-MS: Comparison between magnetic sector and quadrupole ICP-MS
  21. Stornesite-(Y), (Y, Ca)⃞2Na6(Ca,Na)8(Mg,Fe)43(PO4)36, the first terrestrial Mg-dominant member of the fillowite group, from granulite-facies paragneiss in the Larsemann Hills, Prydz Bay, East Antarctica
  22. Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopic study of carbonate-bearing fluorapatite: New defect centers and constraints on the incorporation of carbonate ions in apatites
  23. EXAFS signature of structural Zn at trace levels in natural and synthetic trioctahedral 2:1 phyllosilicates
  24. A neutron powder diffraction study of Fe and Ni distributions in synthetic pentlandite and violarite using 60Ni isotope
  25. Letter. Quantification of amphibole content in expanded vermiculite products from Libby, Montana U.S.A. using powder X-ray diffraction
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