Vanadinite
- Named for its vanadium content
- Vanadinite is the most important source of vanadium and finds application as V2O5 in the famous contact process (production of sulfuric acid) and in alloys for chromium-vanadium steel (typically the content is below 0.2 %)
- Formula: Pb5(VO4)3Cl
- Space group: P63/m (No. 176)
- Crystal system: hexagonal
- Crystal class: 6/m
- Lattice parameters: a = b = 10.299(2) Å, c = 7.308(1) Å, α = β = 90°, γ = 120°
Picture: Didier Descouens – CC BY-SA 4.0
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12436369
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).)
- PbO9 irregular polyhedra (black)
- PbO7 capped trigonal prisms (blue)
- VO4 tetrahedra (purple)
- Oxygen (red)
- Chlorine (green)
For a 3D interactive version on sketchfab, see here:
Reference:
Crystal structure of vanadinite: refinement of anisotropic displacement parameters
F. Laufek et al.
J. Czech Geol. Soc. 2006, 51, 271-275
DOI: 10.3190/JCGS.999