Quasicrystals and Other Aperiodic Structures in Mineralogy
by
Carlos M. Pina 1,2,* and Victoria López-Acevedo 1,3
Carlos M. Pina 1,2,* and Victoria López-Acevedo 1,3
1
Department of Crystallography and Mineralogy, Faculty of Geological Sciences, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
2
Geosciences Institute IGEO (Universidad Complutense de Madrid-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas), 28040 Madrid, Spain
3
Museum of Geology at the Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Helmut Cölfen
Crystals 2016, 6(11), 137; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst6110137
Received: 1 October 2016 / Revised: 19 October 2016 / Accepted: 20 October 2016 / Published: 27 October 2016
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structure and Properties of Quasicrystals 2016)
In this article, we first present and discuss eighteenth-century descriptions of minerals that contributed decisively to the development of crystallography. Remarkably, these old crystallographic descriptions included morphologies with symmetries incompatible with an internal periodic order of atoms, which, however, have been recognised to be characteristics of quasicrystals. Moreover, we also review a number of studies of minerals with aperiodic crystal structures, including recently reported natural quasicrystals of extra-terrestrial origin. Finally, we discuss the current investigations addressing the search for new quasicrystalline minerals in nature.
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Keywords:
quasicrystals; aperiodic mineral structures; crystal and quasicrystal morphologies; quasicrystalline minerals; skutterudite; cobaltine
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MDPI and ACS Style
Pina, C.M.; López-Acevedo, V. Quasicrystals and Other Aperiodic Structures in Mineralogy. Crystals 2016, 6, 137.
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