Eucryptite – not an altcoin but millionfold used in the kitchen

β-Eucryptite

• Named from the Greek for “well” and “concealed”, in reference to its occurrence as intimate intergrowths with the mineral albite
• It is the main component of the fameous glass-ceramic cooktops for stoves, known in the EU under the trademark Ceran® from Schott AG
• Formula: LiAlSiO₄
• Space group: P6₂22 (No. 180)
• Crystal system: hexagonal
• Crystal class: 622
• Lattice parameters: a = b = 10.500 Å, c = 11.194 Å, α = β = 90°, γ = 120°

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Crystal structure (click on the picture to download the VESTA file):

(K. Momma and F. Izumi, “VESTA 3 for three-dimensional visualization of crystal, volumetric and morphology data,” J. Appl. Crystallogr., 44, 1272-1276 (2011).)

• SiO₄ tetrahedra (orange)
• AlO₄ tetrahedra (light blue)
• Li (purple/pink)
• Oxygen (red)

For a 3D interactive version, see here:

https://skfb.ly/6wqY9

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