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Minerals
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Crystal Chemistry of Sulfate Minerals and Synthetic Compounds
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Crystal Chemistry of Sulfate Minerals and Synthetic Compounds

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Crystallography and Physical Chemistry of Minerals & Nanominerals".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 3631

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Artem S. Borisov

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Geosciences, Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, 24118 Kiel, Germany
Interests: crystal chemistry; structural mineralogy; inorganic chemistry; X-ray diffraction; sulfate minerals and materials

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The last few decades have seen a significant interest in sulfate minerals and synthetic compounds. Their role in the formation of industrially important deposits, evaporites, and active volcanic fumaroles draws attention to their behavior. The investigation of hydrated Mg, Fe, and Ca sulfates under non-ambient conditions provides insight into the physical and chemical conditions present on the surface of Mars, Galilean icy moons, and meteorites. Synthetic sulfate compounds are a broad class of materials with applications ranging from high-tech energy industries to biomedical and bioengineering fields. State-of-the-art X-ray diffraction techniques facilitate the precise examination of crystal structures of minerals and materials under diverse P-T conditions. In this Special Issue of Minerals, we invite contributions examining sulfate minerals and synthetic compounds, their crystal structures, HT/LT and HP behavior, and related aspects.

Dr. Artem S. Borisov
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sulfate minerals
  • sulfate materials
  • X-ray diffraction
  • non-ambient conditions
  • HT/LT behavior
  • phase stability
  • crystal chemistry

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 11586 KB  
Article
Rb2Ca3(SO4)4: Crystal Structure, Thermal Expansion, Phase Transformations and Comparison with Cs2Ca3(SO4)4 and Langbeinite Structure Type
by Andrey P. Shablinskii, Sofya V. Demina, Margarita S. Avdontceva, Alexey V. Povolotskiy, Rimma S. Bubnova, Maria G. Krzhizhanovskaya, Svetlana Yu. Janson, Valery L. Ugolkov and Stanislav K. Filatov
Minerals 2026, 16(5), 548; https://doi.org/10.3390/min16050548 - 19 May 2026
Viewed by 278
Abstract
The Rb2Ca3(SO4)4 compound was obtained by rapid cooling of the stoichiometric melt. The crystal structure was solved and refined using single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis (P21/c, a = 9.2847(9), b [...] Read more.
The Rb2Ca3(SO4)4 compound was obtained by rapid cooling of the stoichiometric melt. The crystal structure was solved and refined using single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis (P21/c, a = 9.2847(9), b = 9.4094(6), c = 9.2917(8) Å, β = 114.646(1)°, V = 737.80(12) Å3, R1 = 0.051). The thermal behavior of Rb2Ca3(SO4)4 was investigated by high-temperature powder X-ray diffraction in the range 25–1000 °C. Thermal decomposition of the Rb2Ca3(SO4)4 phase occurs at 300 °C, forming Rb2Ca2(SO4)3 and CaSO4. The decomposition is complete at 450 °C, and the mixture of Rb2Ca2(SO4)3 + CaSO4 persists up to 890 °C. Homogenization of the phases occurs at 900 °C, resulting in the formation of the Rb2Ca3(SO4)4 compound again at 970 °C. A structural interpretation of this thermal phase transformation is presented, and the relationship between the crystal structures of Rb2Ca3(SO4)4 and Rb2Ca2(SO4)3 of the langbeinite structure type is demonstrated. Thermal expansion of Rb2Ca3(SO4)4 is highly anisotropic: α11 = 23.9(4), αb = 19.2(3), α33 = 7.7(1), αβ = −1.9(7), αV = 50.8(9) × 10−6 °C−1 at 25 °C and α11 = −7(2), αb = 17(5), α33 = 25(7), αβ = −1.1(1), αV = 35(9) × 10−6 °C−1 at 1000 °C. The anisotropy of the thermal expansion is described in comparison with the Rb2Ca3(SO4)4 crystal structure. The optical band gap for the Rb2Ca3(SO4)4 compound was determined to be 3.7 eV from absorption spectroscopy data. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Crystal Chemistry of Sulfate Minerals and Synthetic Compounds)
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22 pages, 7963 KB  
Article
Thermal, Structural, and Phase Evolution of the Y2(SO4)3*8H2O–Eu2(SO4)3*8H2O System via Dehydration and Volatilization to Y2(SO4)3–Eu2(SO4)3 and Y2O2(SO4)–Eu2O2(SO4) and Its Thermal Expansion
by Andrey P. Shablinskii, Olga Y. Shorets, Rimma S. Bubnova, Maria G. Krzhizhanovskaya, Margarita S. Avdontceva and Stanislav K. Filatov
Minerals 2025, 15(12), 1304; https://doi.org/10.3390/min15121304 - 14 Dec 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 721
Abstract
The synthesis, crystal structure, phase transformations, and thermal expansion of (Y1−xEux)2(SO4)3*8H2O (where x = 0, 0.17, 0.33, 0.50, 0.66, 0.83, and 1) are presented. (Y1−xEux) [...] Read more.
The synthesis, crystal structure, phase transformations, and thermal expansion of (Y1−xEux)2(SO4)3*8H2O (where x = 0, 0.17, 0.33, 0.50, 0.66, 0.83, and 1) are presented. (Y1−xEux)2(SO4)3*8H2O solid solutions were synthesized via crystallization from an aqueous solution. (Y1−xEux)2(SO4)3*8H2O (C2/c) ↔ (Y1−xEux)2(SO4)3 (Pbcn) → (Y1−xEux)2O2SO4 (C2/c) and Eu2(SO4)3*8H2O (C2/c) ↔ Eu2(SO4)3 (C2/c) → Eu2O2SO4 (C2/c) phase transformations for all samples were investigated by high-temperature powder X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetry in the temperature ranges of 25–750 and 25–1350 °C, respectively. The aim of this work is to identify the structural heredity of the phases formed during thermal transformations of (Y1−xEux)2(SO4)3*8H2O solid solutions, and to study the mechanisms of the thermal deformations of the crystal structure. Structural relations between these phases were found. The crystal structures of YEu(SO4)3*8H2O and (Y0.83Eu0.17)2(SO4)3*8H2O were refined at −173, −123, −73, −23, 27, and 77 °C. Thermal expansion coefficients for (Y1−xEux)2(SO4)3*8H2O, Eu2(SO4)3, (Y1−xEux)2O2SO4 (where x = 0, 0.17, 0.33, 0.50, 0.66, 0.83, and 1) compounds and solid solutions were calculated for the first time. The thermal expansion of Eu2(SO4)3 was highest in the direction approximately coinciding with the c-axis, because the Eu–O chains extended in this direction. As temperature increased, the crystal structure of (Y1−xEux)2(SO4)3*8H2O expanded significantly in the ac plane along directions close to the a and c axes, while thermal expansion along the b axis was relatively low. The distance between layers in the (Y1−xEux)2(SO4)3*8H2O crystal structure increased with increasing temperature, and corrugated layers (parallel to (101) direction) straightened out due to the rotation of the S2O4 tetrahedra. At high temperature, thermal expansion of Y2O2SO4 was highest along the longer diagonal of the ac parallelogram perpendicular to the plane of the oxo-centered 2∞[YO] layers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Crystal Chemistry of Sulfate Minerals and Synthetic Compounds)
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18 pages, 4181 KB  
Article
Crystal Structure Features, Spectroscopic Characteristics and Thermal Conversions of Sulfur-Bearing Groups: New Natural Commensurately Modulated Haüyne Analogue, Na6Ca2−x(Si6Al6O24)(SO42−,HS−,S2●−,S4,S3●−,S52−)2−y
by Nikita V. Chukanov, Natalia V. Zubkova, Roman Yu. Shendrik, Anatoly N. Sapozhnikov, Igor V. Pekov, Marina F. Vigasina, Nadezhda A. Chervonnaya, Dmitry A. Varlamov, Nadezhda B. Bolotina, Dmitry A. Ksenofontov and Dmitry Yu. Pushcharovsky
Minerals 2025, 15(7), 709; https://doi.org/10.3390/min15070709 - 3 Jul 2025
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1280
Abstract
A multimethodic approach based on infrared, Raman, electron spin resonance and photoluminescence spectroscopy, absorption spectroscopy in near infrared, visible and ultraviolet regions, single-crystal X-ray diffraction as well as electron microprobe analyses was applied to the characterization of a new commensurately modulated cubic haüyne [...] Read more.
A multimethodic approach based on infrared, Raman, electron spin resonance and photoluminescence spectroscopy, absorption spectroscopy in near infrared, visible and ultraviolet regions, single-crystal X-ray diffraction as well as electron microprobe analyses was applied to the characterization of a new commensurately modulated cubic haüyne analogue with the modulation parameter of 0.2 and unit-cell parameter of 45.3629(3) Å (designated as haüyne-45Å) from the Malobystrinskoe lazurite deposit, in the Baikal Lake area, Siberia, Russia, as well as associated SO32−-bearing afghanite. Haüyne-45Å is the second member, after vladimirivanovite, of the sodalite group with a commensurately modulated structure. The average structure is based on the tetrahedral aluminosilicate sodalite-type framework with sodalite cages of different sizes. The simplified formula of haüyne-45Å is Na6Ca2−x(Si6Al6O24)(SO42−,HS−,S2●−,S4,S3●−,S52−)2−y. The structural modulations of the haüyne-45Å framework are presumably related to the regular alternation of SO42− anions with polysulfide S2●−, S3●−, S4, and S52− groups detected by the spectroscopic methods. Mechanisms of thermal conversions of S-bearing groups in haüyne-45Å under oxidizing and reducing conditions at temperatures up to 800 °C are studied, and their geochemical importance is discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Crystal Chemistry of Sulfate Minerals and Synthetic Compounds)
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