New mineral discovered in lava from volcano in Russia

A lava flow.

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During research carried out in the lava flows of the Tolbachik volcano, in the Kamchatka Peninsula, in Russia, researchers have discovered an unprecedented mineral.

Called petrovite, this mineral has interesting characteristics, particularly from the perspective of manufacturing sodium-ion batteries, reports Mineralogical magazine, relayed by 

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“The copper atom in the crystal structure of petrovite has an unusual and very rare arrangement of seven oxygen atoms.

Such a disposition is only found in a few compounds, such as saranchinaite, ”explained the project leader, Professor Stanislav Filatov in a statement issued by St. Petersburg State University.

Scientists discover beautiful blue new mineral petrovite that could help inspire advancements in next-generation batteries.https: //t.co/qvSwu0Waue

- CNET (@CNET) November 17, 2020

A porous structure that allows ionic conductivity

As for petrovite, this mineral is made up of atoms of sodium sulfide, copper and oxygen.

Its structure is porous and the pores allow sodium atoms to move through channels.

It is this ionic conductivity that can be of interest for the design of batteries.

However, the quantities of mineral found on this site leave little hope on this subject.

One of the solutions could be to synthesize a compound with the same structure as this mineral in the laboratory.

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