Hydrocerussite-related minerals and materials: structural principles, chemical variations and infrared spectroscopy

Author(s):  
Oleg Siidra ◽  
Diana Nekrasova ◽  
Wulf Depmeier ◽  
Nikita Chukanov ◽  
Anatoly Zaitsev ◽  
...  

White lead or basic lead carbonate, 2PbCO3·Pb(OH)2, the synthetic analogue of hydrocerussite Pb3(OH)2(CO3)2, has been known since antiquity as the most frequently used white paint. A number of different minerals and synthetic materials compositionally and structurally related to hydrocerussite have been described within the last two decades. Herein, a review is given of general structural principles, chemical variations and IR spectra of the rapidly growing family of hydrocerussite-related minerals and synthetic materials. Only structures containing a hydroxo- and/or oxo-component,i.e.which are compositionally directly related with hydrocerussite and `white lead', are reviewed in detail. An essential structural feature of all the considered phases is the presence of electroneutral [PbCO3]0cerussite-type layers or sheets. Various interleaved sheets can be incorporated between the cerussite-type sheets. Different sheets are stacked into two-dimensional blocks separated by the stereochemically active 6s2lone electron pairs on Pb2+cations. Minerals and synthetic materials described herein, together with a number of still hypothetical members, constitute a family of modular structures. Hydrocerussite, abellaite and grootfonteinite can be considered to constitute a merotype family of structures. The remaining hydrocerussite-related structures discussed are built on similar principles, but are more complex. Structural architectures of somersetite and slag phase from Lavrion, Attica, Greece, are unique for oxysalt mineral structures in general. Thus, the whole family of hydrocerussite-related phases can be denoted as a plesiotype family of modular structures. The crystal structures of hydrocerussite from Merehead quarry, Somerset, England, and of its synthetic analogue, both determined from single crystals, are reported here for the first time. The results of the infrared (IR) spectroscopy show that this method is useful for distinguishing several different minerals related to hydrocerussite and their synthetic analogues.

2015 ◽  
Vol 79 (5) ◽  
pp. 1061-1072 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. V. Galuskin ◽  
F. Gfeller ◽  
T. Armbruster ◽  
I. O. Galuskina ◽  
Y. Vapnik ◽  
...  

AbstractThe new mineral nabimusaite, KCa12(SiO4)4(SO4)2O2F (R3m, a = 7.1905(4), c = 41.251(3) Å, V = 1847.1(2) Å3, Z = 3), has been discovered in larnite-ye' elimite nodules of pyrometamorphic rocks of the Hatrurim Complex. Nabimusaite is colourless, transparent with a white streak, has a vitreous lustre and does not show luminescence. It is brittle, but shows pronounced parting and imperfect cleavage along (001). Nabimusaite is uniaxial (–), ω = 1.644(2), ε = 1.640(2) (589 nm), nonpleochroic, Mohs' hardness is ∼5 and the calculated density is 3.119 g cm–3. The crystal structure has been solved and refined to R1 = 0.0416. Its artificial analogue is known. The nabimusaite structure may be derived from that of hatrurite, also known as the clinker phase 'alite' (C3S = Ca3SiO5), and is built up by an intercalation of three positively charged hatrurite-like modules of composition [Ca12(SiO4)4O2F]3+ with inserted modules of [K(SO4)2]3–. The hatrurite-like modules in nabimusaite are characterized by octahedrally coordinated anion sites and tetrahedrally coordinated cation sites. The structure is representative of the intercalated antiperovskite type. In contrast to its synthetic analogue, nabimusaite is P-bearing. The shortened bond T–O lengths for one tetrahedral site indicates P preference at the Si2 site, located at the border of the hatrurite-like modules. Significant variations of isomorphous substitutions in nabimusaite suggest the possibility of other isostructural minerals occurring in Nature. It also seems likely that nabimusaite could serve as a prototype for new advanced synthetic materials, given the discovery of two other new minerals in the Hatrurim Complex with related modular structures, placed in the nabimusaite group. These are zadovite and aradite, as described in a companion paper (Galuskin et al., 2015a).The mineral assemblage and paragenesis of nabimusaite suggests that nabimusaite formed as a result of the reaction of potassium-enriched, sulfate-bearing melt with larnite and ellestadite. This contradicts the isochemical model that pyrometamorphic rocks of the Hatrurim Complex formed relatively fast in a practically dry system.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joaquin Caro-Astorga ◽  
Kenneth T. Walker ◽  
Natalia Herrera ◽  
Koon-Yang Lee ◽  
Tom Ellis

AbstractEngineered living materials (ELMs) based on bacterial cellulose (BC) offer a promising avenue for cheap-to-produce materials that can be programmed with genetically encoded functionalities. Here we explore how ELMs can be fabricated in a modular fashion from millimetre-scale biofilm spheroids grown from shaking cultures of Komagataeibacter rhaeticus. Here we define a reproducible protocol to produce BC spheroids with the high yield bacterial cellulose producer K. rhaeticus and demonstrate for the first time their potential for their use as building blocks to grow ELMs in 3D shapes. Using genetically engineered K. rhaeticus, we produce functionalized BC spheroids and use these to make and grow patterned BC-based ELMs that signal within a material and can sense and report on chemical inputs. We also investigate the use of BC spheroids as a method to regenerate damaged BC materials and as a way to fuse together smaller material sections of cellulose and synthetic materials into a larger piece. This work improves our understanding of BC spheroid formation and showcases their great potential for fabricating, patterning and repairing ELMs based on the promising biomaterial of bacterial cellulose.


Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 106
Author(s):  
Davor Andrić ◽  
Josip Galić ◽  
Karin Šerman

The article examines the actuation characteristics of different basic structural schemes—basic body plans—for soft modular pneubotics in architecture are investigated. Eight basic body plans are translated from abstract expressions into their corresponding modular structures and (re)constructed in their physical form using up to 12 soft unit elements in the shape of a cube. Reconstructed basic body plans are then examined through a qualitative analysis of their ability to actuate and change the shape of the structure. Through adaptive manual inflation of an individual element, a group of elements, or all elements at once, motions and transformations are produced and evaluated. The results show that five out of eight basic body plans have higher actuation capacity while three show a less pronounced capacity to change shape. Based on the most pronounced characteristics of the examined basic body plans, design opportunities for potential architectural applications are proposed. These include structures that can self-erect, lift, tilt, bend, change thickness, curvature, etc. What is also shown is that basic body plans could be combined into one complex structural body.


Nature ◽  
1964 ◽  
Vol 202 (4930) ◽  
pp. 386-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. TODD ◽  
E. PARRY

Author(s):  
I. V. Yakovleva ◽  
E. A. Kurbatova ◽  
E. A. Akhmatova ◽  
E. V. Sukhova ◽  
D. V. Yashunsky ◽  
...  

Aim. Production of monoclonal antibodies (mAb) to synthetic tetrasaccharide - repeating unit of the capsular polysaccharide (CP) of Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 14 and their immunochemical characterization. Materials and methods. In order to generate the hybridoma producing mAb, mice were immunized with synthetic tetrasaccharide conjugated with bovine serum albumin (BSA) with following hybridization of B lymphocytes with mouse myeloma cells. Antibodies were obtained in vitro andin vivo. Immunochemical characterization of mAb to tetrasaccharide was carried out using a variety of ELISA options. Results. For the first time obtained mouse hybridoma, producing IgM to tetrasacchride. The IgM titer of anti-tetrasacharide antibodies in supernatants of clones and in the ascitic fluid of mice in ELISA detected by biotinylated tetrasaccharide and synthetic CP adsorbed on the solid phase was higher compared to the use of bacterial CP as well cover antigen. In the reaction of inhibition of the ELISA, the mAb recognized the corresponding carbohydrate epitopes of the bacterial CP of S. pneumoniae serotype 14 dissolved in the liquid phase better than tetrasaccharide ligand and synthetic CP. Conclusion. To detect mAb to tetrasaccharide in ELISA preferably to use synthetic analogues of the CP as solid phase antigens. The obtained mAb to tetrasaccharide can be used to determine the representation of the protective tetrasaccharide epitope of CP in the development of pneumococcal vaccines.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Photos-Jones ◽  
P. Bots ◽  
E. Oikonomou ◽  
A. Hamilton ◽  
C. W. Knapp

Abstract A Pb-based synthetic mineral referred to as psimythion (pl. psimythia) was manufactured in the Greek world at least since the 6th c BCE and routinely by the 4th c BCE. Theophrastus (On Stones, 56) describes its preparation from metallic Pb suspended over a fermenting liquid. Psimythion is considered the precursor of one of western art’s most prominent white pigments, i.e. lead white (basic lead carbonate or synthetic hydrocerussite). However, so far, and for that early period, published analyses of psimythia suggest that they consisted primarily of synthetic cerussite. In this paper, we set out to investigate how it was possible to manufacture pure cerussite, to the near exclusion of other phases. We examined the chemical and mineralogical composition (pXRF/XRD) of a small number of psimythion pellets found within ceramic pots (pyxis) from Athens and Boeotia (5th–4th c BCE) in the collection of the National Archaeological Museum (NAM), Athens. Analyses showed that the NAM pellets consisted primarily of Pb/cerussite with small amounts of Ca (some samples) and a host of metallic trace elements. We highlight the reference in the Theophrastus text to ‘spoiled wine’ (oxos), rather than ‘vinegar’, as has been previously assumed, the former including a strong biotic component. We carried out DNA sequencing of the pellets in an attempt to establish presence of microorganisms (Acetic Acid Bacteria). None was found. Subsequently, and as a working hypothesis, we propose a series of (biotic/abiotic) reactions which were likely to have taken place in the liquid and vapour phases and on the metal surface. The hypothesis aims to demonstrate that CO2 would be microbially induced and would increase, as a function of time, resulting in cerussite forming over and above hydrocerussite/other Pb-rich phases. Psimythion has for long been valued as a white pigment. What has perhaps been not adequately appreciated is the depth of empirical understanding from the part of psimythion manufacturers of the reactions between abiotic and biotic components within ‘oxos’/pot, as key drivers of minerals synthesis. Ultimately, psimythion manufacture may rest in understanding the nature of ‘oxos’, antiquity’s relatively little researched strongest acid.


CrystEngComm ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (21) ◽  
pp. 2860-2869 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoli Yu ◽  
Qi Diao ◽  
Xiaokai Zhang ◽  
Yong-Ill Lee ◽  
Hong-Guo Liu

1957 ◽  
Vol 29 (12) ◽  
pp. 1894-1894 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald. Katz ◽  
Robert. Lefker

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 1460052 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
TETYANA GALATYUK

The HADES experiment aims to explore strongly interacting baryon dominated matter at moderate temperatures using rare and penetrating probes. Special emphasis is put on the region of moderate beam energies where comparatively long-lived states of compressed matter are created. In the energy domain of 1–2 GeV per nucleon, HADES has measured hadrons and di-electron signals in C + C , Ar + KCl , p+p, d+p and p+ Nb collisions. For the first time the electron pairs were reconstructed from quasi-free n+p sub-reactions by detecting the proton spectator from the deuteron breakup. For the first time di-electrons radiated from cold nuclear matter in a kinematic regime, where strong medium effects are expected, have been detected. An experimentally constrained N + N reference spectrum was established. A direct comparison of the N + N reference spectrum with the e+e- invariant mass distribution measured in the heavier system Ar + KCl at 1.76 GeV/u shows an excess yield above the reference. The observation may be interpreted as the onset of an actual medium effect. We argue, that couplings between the ρ meson and the baryonic resonances are of fundamental importance in understanding dilepton spectra at SIS energies.


2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (16) ◽  
pp. 11020-11027 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr A. Guńka ◽  
Zygmunt Gontarz ◽  
Janusz Zachara

Lone electron pair dispersion into three separate domains in space is reported and discussed for the first time.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document