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This delightful blue mineral discovered in Russia is called petrovite.
SPbU
The world of minerals is as wild as the world of animals when it comes to discovering new specimens.
A research team led by crystallographer (crystal specialist) Stanislav Filatov of the University of St. Petersburg has found a beautiful new entry in the world of minerals: petrovite. Petrovite is good to look at, but it could also help inspire advancements in next-generation batteries.
The bright blue mineral comes from a wilderness: a volcanic landscape formed by large eruptions in the 1970s and 10s on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. “This territory is unique in its mineralogical diversity. In recent years, researchers have discovered dozens of new minerals here, many of which are unique in the world,” the university said in a statement Tuesday.
The mineral is named after another crystallographer from the University of St. Petersburg, Tomas Petrov. The team published a study on petrovite in Mineralogical Magazine earlier this year.
Petrovite is particularly interesting because it is a bit strange in its composition and structure. “The mineral is made up of oxygen, sodium sulfur and copper atoms, which form a porous structure,” the university said. “The voids are linked together by channels through which relatively small sodium atoms can move.”
This means that petrovite could be useful as a component of sodium ion batteries, a type of rechargeable battery that could become a economical alternative to lithium-ion batteries common today.
Petrovite originated in a fiery place in nature, but Filatov said researchers could try to synthesize a compound with its own structure in a laboratory for use in battery development. It would be a nice trip from a volcano to turning on gadgets in people’s homes.
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