Stolzite is a

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2 ...

, a

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

tungstate In chemistry, a tungstate is a compound that contains an oxyanion of tungsten or is a mixed oxide containing tungsten. The simplest tungstate ion is , "orthotungstate". Many other tungstates belong to a large group of polyatomic ions that are ...

; with the formula Pb W O₄. It is similar to, and often associated with,

wulfenite Wulfenite is a lead molybdate mineral with the formula Pb Mo O4. It can be most often found as thin tabular crystals with a bright orange-red to yellow-orange color, sometimes brown, although the color can be highly variable. In its yellow form ...

which is the same chemical formula except that the tungsten is replaced by molybdenum. Stolzite crystallizes in the

tetragonal In crystallography, the tetragonal crystal system is one of the 7 crystal systems. Tetragonal crystal lattices result from stretching a cubic lattice along one of its lattice vectors, so that the cube becomes a rectangular prism with a squar ...

crystal system and is dimorphous with the

monoclinic In crystallography, the monoclinic crystal system is one of the seven crystal systems. A crystal system is described by three vectors. In the monoclinic system, the crystal is described by vectors of unequal lengths, as in the orthorhombic s ...

form raspite.Mindat.org
/ref> Lead tungstate crystals have the optical transparency of glass combined with much higher density (8.28 g/cm³ vs ~2.2 g/cm³ for

fused silica Fused quartz, fused silica or quartz glass is a glass consisting of almost pure silica (silicon dioxide, SiO2) in amorphous (non- crystalline) form. This differs from all other commercial glasses in which other ingredients are added which ch ...

). They are used as scintillators in

particle physics Particle physics or high energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and forces that constitute matter and radiation. The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standard Model as fermions (matter particles) an ...

because of their short

radiation length In physics, the radiation length is a characteristic of a material, related to the energy loss of high energy particles electromagnetically interacting with it. Definition In materials of high atomic number (e.g. W, U, Pu) the electrons of energie ...

(0.89 cm), low Molière radius (2.2 cm), quick scintillation response, and radiation hardness. Lead tungstate crystals are used in the Compact Muon Solenoid's electromagnetic calorimeter. It was first described in 1820 by August Breithaupt, who called it Scheelbleispath and then by François Sulpice Beudant in 1832, who called it scheelitine. In 1845,

Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger (or Wilhelm von Haidinger, or most often Wilhelm Haidinger) (5 February 179519 March 1871) was an Austrian mineralogist. Early life Haidinger's father was the mineralogist Karl Haidinger (1756–1797), who died w ...

coined the name stolzite for an occurrence in Krusne Hory ( Erzgebirge),

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, naming it after Joseph Alexi Stolz of

Teplice Teplice () (until 1948 Teplice-Šanov; german: Teplitz-Schönau or ''Teplitz'') is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 49,000 inhabitants. It is the second largest Czech spa town, after Karlovy Vary. The hi ...

in Bohemia. It occurs in oxidized hydrothermal tungsten-lead ore deposits typically in association with raspite,

cerussite Cerussite (also known as lead carbonate or white lead ore) is a mineral consisting of lead carbonate (PbCO3), and is an important ore of lead. The name is from the Latin ''cerussa'', white lead. ''Cerussa nativa'' was mentioned by Conrad Gessner ...

anglesite Anglesite is a lead sulfate mineral with the chemical formula PbSO4. It occurs as an oxidation product of primary lead sulfide ore, galena. Anglesite occurs as prismatic orthorhombic crystals and earthy masses, and is isomorphous with barite and ...

pyromorphite Pyromorphite is a mineral species composed of lead chlorophosphate: Pb5( P O4)3 Cl, sometimes occurring in sufficient abundance to be mined as an ore of lead. Crystals are common, and have the form of a hexagonal prism terminated by the basal pl ...

and

mimetite Mimetite is a lead arsenate chloride mineral (Pb5(AsO4)3Cl) which forms as a secondary mineral in lead deposits, usually by the oxidation of galena and arsenopyrite. The name derives from the Greek Μιμητής ''mimetes'', meaning "imitator" a ...

References

Mellor, J. W. "A Comprehensive Treatise on Inorganic and Theoretical Chemistry," Vol.11, Longmans, Green and Co., London, 1931, p. 792. Stolzite-174595

Lead minerals Tungstate minerals Tetragonal minerals Minerals in space group 88 Luminescent minerals {{Mineral-stub

See also

References