Decagonite, Al71Ni24Fe5, a quasicrystal with decagonal symmetry from the Khatyrka CV3 carbonaceous chondrite

Bindi, Luca; Yao, Nan; Lin, Chaney; Hollister, L. S.; Andronicos, Christopher L.; Distler, V. V.; Eddy, Michael P.; Kostin, Alexander; Kryachko, V. V.; MacPherson, G. J.; Steinhardt, William; Yudovskaya, Marina A.; Steinhardt, Paul J.

doi:10.2138/am-2015-5423

Cited by 66 publications

(29 citation statements)

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“…Quasicrystals can be synthesized in the laboratory by mixing precise ratios of selected elemental components in the liquid and quenching under strictly controlled conditions ranging from rapid to moderately slow (3,4). Nonetheless, the finding of two natural quasicrystals (5)(6)(7)(8) in the Khatyrka meteorite (9), which displays clear evidence of a shock generated by a high-velocity impact event (10), introduced a dramatic new possible mechanism of quasicrystal formation. Here, we report the results of a shock recovery experiment designed to reproduce some aspects of a collision that may have occurred between extraterrestrial bodies.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Shock synthesis of quasicrystals with implications for their origin in asteroid collisions

Asimow

Lin

Bindi

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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We designed a plate impact shock recovery experiment to simulate the starting materials and shock conditions associated with the only known natural quasicrystals, in the Khatyrka meteorite. At the boundaries among CuAl 5 , (Mg 0.75 Fe 2+ 0.25 ) 2 SiO 4 olivine, and the stainless steel chamber walls, the recovered specimen contains numerous micron-scale grains of a quasicrystalline phase displaying face-centered icosahedral symmetry and low phason strain. The compositional range of the icosahedral phase is Al 68-73 Fe 11-16 Cu 10-12 Cr 1-4 Ni 1-2 and extends toward higher Al/(Cu+Fe) and Fe/Cu ratios than those reported for natural icosahedrite or for any previously known synthetic quasicrystal in the Al-Cu-Fe system. The shock-induced synthesis demonstrated in this experiment reinforces the evidence that natural quasicrystals formed during a shock event but leaves open the question of whether this synthesis pathway is attributable to the expanded thermodynamic stability range of the quasicrystalline phase at high pressure, to a favorable kinetic pathway that exists under shock conditions, or to both thermodynamic and kinetic factors.icosahedrite | shock metamorphism | alloys | meteorites | quasicrystals Q uasicrystals are solids with rotational symmetries forbidden for crystals (1, 2). Quasicrystals can be synthesized in the laboratory by mixing precise ratios of selected elemental components in the liquid and quenching under strictly controlled conditions ranging from rapid to moderately slow (3, 4). Nonetheless, the finding of two natural quasicrystals (5-8) in the Khatyrka meteorite (9), which displays clear evidence of a shock generated by a high-velocity impact event (10), introduced a dramatic new possible mechanism of quasicrystal formation. Here, we report the results of a shock recovery experiment designed to reproduce some aspects of a collision that may have occurred between extraterrestrial bodies.Icosahedrite is only stable on the liquidus of the Al-Cu-Fe system in a narrow compositional range and only between 700°C and 850°C at ambient pressure (11), but its stability field is enlarged in static high-pressure conditions, where it has been observed in experiments quenched from 1,400°C at 21 GPa (12). The presence of other high-pressure phases (ahrensite and stishovite) (10) associated with shocks, adjacent to icosahedrite and decagonite in the Khatyrka CV3 carbonaceous chondrite, together with the static high-pressure stability of the quasicrystalline phase, are suggestive of an origin during the high-pressure pulse of a shock event. However, there are numerous differences between the static high-pressure, high-temperature conditions studied by Stagno et al. (12) and shock-induced conditions at nominally similar peak (P, T) conditions-including heterogeneous and rapidly time-varying pressure and temperature fields (13,14), typical adiabatic decompression rather than temperature quench at high pressure (15), and hypersonic turbulent shear flows (16)(17)(18). A direct demonstration of synthesis of an ...

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confidence: 99%

Shock synthesis of quasicrystals with implications for their origin in asteroid collisions

Asimow

Lin

Bindi

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…This quasicrystalline mineral of ideal composition Al63Cu24Fe13 was named icosahedrite for its icosahedral symmetry (with probable space group Fm3 5 ) and its name was approved by the Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification, IMA (2010-042). More recently, a second natural quasicrystal with the composition Al71Ni24Fe5 and decagonal symmetry has been found in the same meteorite from the Koryak Mountains [12,13]. Figure 8 shows two electron diffraction patterns, which nicely revealed the fivefold and tenfold symmetries of the quasicrystals found in the Khatyrka meteorite.…”

Section: Quasicrystals and Mineralsmentioning

confidence: 78%

“…In this case, the new developments in crystallography and the subsequent redefinition of crystal resulted from the study not of minerals but of synthetic alloys. Nevertheless, in 2009, the first mineral with a quasicrystalline structure, named icosahedrite, was found within a meteorite from Khatyrka (eastern Russia), and in 2015 a new natural quasicrystal with decagonal symmetry was also identified in the same meteorite [11][12][13]. Although mineral quasicrystals formed on Earth have not been recorded to date, it is quite conceivable that some minerals may exist in a quasicrystalline state on our planet.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quasicrystals and Other Aperiodic Structures in Mineralogy

Pina¹,

López-Acevedo²

2016

Preprint

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Abstract:In this article, we first present and discuss eighteenth-century descriptions of minerals that contributed decisively to the development of crystallography. Remarkably, these old crystallographic descriptions included morphologies with symmetries incompatible with an internal periodic order of atoms, which, however, have been recognised to be characteristics of quasicrystals. Moreover, we also review a number of studies of minerals with aperiodic crystal structures, including recently reported natural quasicrystals of extra-terrestrial origin. Finally, we discuss the current investigations addressing the search for new quasicrystalline minerals in nature.

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“…The quasicrystal has the composition Al 71 Ni 24 Fe 5 and is the first known natural quasicrystal with decagonal symmetry, a periodic stacking of layers containing quasiperiodic atomic arrangements with ten-fold symmetry. The mineral and its name have been approved by the Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification of the International Mineralogical Association (Bindi et al, 2015b). As already observed for icosahedrite (Bindi et al, 2009b(Bindi et al, , 2011, decagonite exhibits a high degree of structural perfection, particularly the absence of significant phason strains.…”

Section: The Cylindrite-type Mineralsmentioning

confidence: 91%