Browsing by Author "Zhao, J"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Characterization of porosity in sulfide ore minerals: a USANS/SANS study
    (GeoScience World, 2014-11-18) Xia, F; Zhao, J; Etschmann, BE; Brugger, J; Garvey, CJ; Rehm, C; Lemmel, H; Ilavsky, J; Han, YS; Pring, A
    Porosity plays a key role in the formation and alteration of sulfide ore minerals, yet our knowledge of the nature and formation of the residual pores is very limited. Herein, we report the application of ultra-small-angle neutron scattering and small-angle neutron scattering (USANS/SANS) to assess the porosity in five natural sulfide minerals (violarite, marcasite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, and bornite) possibly formed by hydrothermal mineral replacement reactions and two synthetic sulfide minerals (violarite and marcasite) prepared experimentally by mimicking natural hydrothermal conditions. USANS/SANS data showed very different pore size distributions for these minerals. Natural violarite and marcasite tend to possess less pores in the small size range (<100 nm) compared with their synthetic counterparts. This phenomenon is consistent with a higher degree of pore healing or diagenetic compaction experienced by the natural violarite and marcasite. Surprisingly, nanometer-sized (<20 nm) pores were revealed for a natural pyrite cube from La Rioga, Spain, and the sample has a pore volume fraction of ~7.7%. Both chalcopyrite and bornite from the massive sulfide assemblage of the Olympic Dam deposit in Roxby Downs, South Australia, were found to be porous with a similar pore volume fraction (~15%), but chalcopyrite tends to have a higher proportion of nanometer-size pores centered at ~4 nm while bornite tends to have a broader pore size distribution. The specific surface area is generally low for these minerals ranging from 0.94 to 6.28 m2/g, and the surfaces are generally rough as surface fractal behavior was observed for all these minerals. This investigation has demonstrated that USANS/SANS is a very useful tool for analyzing porosity in ore minerals. We believe that with this quantified porosity information a deeper understanding of the complex fluid flow behavior within the porous minerals can be expected. © 2014, Mineralogical Society of America.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Microporous gold: comparison of textures from nature and experiments
    (American Mineralogist, 2014-05-15) Okrugin, VM; Andreeva, E; Etschmann, BE; Pring, A; Li, P; Zhao, J; Griffiths, GJ; Lumpkin, GR; Triani, G; Brugger, J
    Recent experiments have shown that microporous gold can be obtained via the oxidative dealloying of Au(Ag)-tellurides such as calaverite (AuTe2), krennerite (Au3AgTe8), and sylvanite [(Au,Ag)2Te4] under mild hydrothermal conditions. The same Au textures have been found in natural gold-telluride ores from the Late Miocene epithermal Aginskoe Au-Ag-Te deposit in Kamchatka, Russia. This confirms that natural microporous gold can form via the replacement of telluride minerals. This replacement may take place under hydrothermal conditions, e.g., during the late stage of the ore-depositing event, explaining the wide distribution of “mustard gold” in some deposits. At Aginskoe, the oxidation of Au-tellurides appears to have resulted only in local redistribution of Au and Te, because the associated oxidation of chalcopyrite scavenged the excess Te, inhibiting the crystallization of secondary Te minerals more than a few micrometers in size. Such cryptic mobility may explain the lack of reported secondary Te minerals in many Te-bearing deposits. © 2014, Mineralogical Society of America.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Neutron scattering study of underdoped Ba(1-x)KxFe2As2 (x=0.09 and 0.17) self-flux-grown single crystals and the universality of the tricritical point
    (American Physical Society, 2012-04-04) Rotundu, CR; Tian, W; Rule, KC; Forrest, TR; Zhao, J; Zarestky, JL; Birgeneau, RJ
    We present a combination of elastic neutron scattering measurements in zero and 14.5 T and magnetization measurements in zero and 14 T on underdoped superconducting Ba(1-x)KxFe2As2 (x=0.09 and 0.17), and the same measurements in zero field on a nonsuperconducting crystal with x = 0.09. The data suggest that the underdoped materials may not be electronic phase separated but rather have slightly inhomogeneous potassium doping. The temperature dependence of the magnetic order parameter below the transition of the sample with x = 0.09 is more gradual than that for the case of the undoped BaFe2As2, suggesting that this doping may be in the vicinity of a tricritical point. We advance therefore the hypothesis that the tricritical point is a common feature of all superconducting 122s. For the x = 0.17 sample, while T-c is suppressed from approximate to 17 to approximate to 8 K by a magnetic field of 14 T, the intensity of the magnetic Bragg peaks (1 0 3) at 1.2 K is enhanced by 10%, showing competition of superconductivity and antiferromagnetism. The intensity of the magnetic Bragg peaks (1 0 3) in the (T-c, T-N) temperature interval remain practically unchanged in 14.5 T within a 10% statistical error. The present results are discussed in the context of the existing literature. © 2012, American Physical Society.