Speaker
Dr
Carlo Marini
(ALBA CELLS)
Description
Sphalerite is one of the most common natural zinc sulfide (ZnS) mineral commonly present at Santander, Spain. Here we present X-ray absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy and X-ray element distribution mapping aimed to characterize the inhomogeneous (zonal) distribution of Cu, Ni, Co, and Fe atoms and its effect on the Zn local environment in sphalerite. A linear combination fit of XANES spectra collected in several representative points of a natural mineral surface is employed to obtain the spatial distribution of the Zn containing mineral species. Apart from the majority ZnS fraction, Zn has been found as smithsonite (ZnCO3) and zincite (ZnO) stochiometries. Zn K-edge EXAFS analysis reveal that the presence of smithsonite impurities lead to structural order and shrinking of the Zinc local environment, while zincite contamination increases the level of structural disorder in the zinc local geometry.
Primary author
Dr
Carlo Marini
(ALBA CELLS)
