New mineral found in Hungary with distinctive van der Waals structure
Kanatzidisite, a new mineral that could have quantum potential, was found in mining dumps of the abandoned Nagybörzsöny gold deposit at Alsó-Rózsa, in northern Hungary.
The mineralisation is hosted by Miocene calcalkaline volcanic rocks and occurs as a stockwork in a propylitised dacite breccia pipe, reports the paper in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
'Kanatzidisite occurs as a unique crystal with a black metallic luster,' says the paper Kanatzidisite: A Natural Compound with Distinctive van der Waals Heterolayered Architecture.
'It is weakly bireflectant and weakly pleochroic from gray to a greenish gray. The mineral exhibits an anhedral grain morphology and does not show any inclusions of, or intergrowths with, other minerals.'
The maximum grain size of kanatzidisite is about 20μm and the mineral 'exhibits a unique structure consisting of alternating BiSbS3 double van der Waals layers and distorted [Te] square nets essentially forming an array of parallel zigzag Te chains'.
When looking for inspiration for designing novel quantum materials, crystal structures of naturally occurring minerals can be convenient and robust sources for novel semiconductors, thermoelectrics, superconductors, quantum spin liquids, and topological materials.
