The crystal structure of ilmajokite, a rare Na-K-Ba-Ce-titanosilicate from the Khibiny mountains, Kola peninsula, Russia, has been solved using single-crystal X-ray diffraction data. The crystal structure is based on a 3D titanosilicate framework consisting of trigonal prismatic titanosilicate (TPTS) clusters centered by Ce3+ in [9]-coordination. Four adjacent TPTS clusters are linked into four-membered rings within the (010) plane and connected via ribbons parallel to 101. The ribbons are organized into layers parallel to (010) and modulated along the a axis with a modulation wavelength of csinβ = 32.91 Å and an amplitude of ∼b/2 = 13.89 Å. The layers are linked by additional silicate tetrahedra. Na+, K+, Ba2+ and H2O groups occur in the framework cavities and have different occupancies and coordination environments. The crystal structure of ilmajokite can be separated into eight hierarchical levels: atoms, coordination polyhedra, TPTS clusters, rings, ribbons, layers, the framework and the whole structure. The information-based analysis allows estimation of the complexity of the structure as 8.468 bits per atom and 11990.129 bits per cell. According to this analysis, ilmajokite is the third-most complex mineral known to date after ewingite and morrisonite, and is the most complex mineral framework structure, comparable in complexity to paulingite-(Ca) (11 590.532 bits per cell).

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)121-128
Number of pages8
JournalIUCrJ
Volume7
Issue numberPt 1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2020

    Research areas

  • CESIUM, CLASSIFICATION, CRYSTAL-STRUCTURE, K2NA(FE42+MG2NA)TI-2(SI4O12)(2)O-2(OH)(4), LOBANOVITE, MASSIF KOLA-PENINSULA, MICROPOROUS TITANOSILICATES, MINERALS, SUPERGROUP, SYNCHROTRON POWDER DIFFRACTION, ilmajokite, structural complexity, structural hierarchy, titanosilicates

ID: 51977251