Sinoite is rare mineral with the chemical formula Si₂N₂O. It was first found in 1905 in

chondrite A chondrite is a stony (non- metallic) meteorite that has not been modified, by either melting or differentiation of the parent body. They are formed when various types of dust and small grains in the early Solar System accreted to form p ...

meteorites and identified as a distinct mineral in 1965. Sinoite crystallizes upon meteorite impact as grains smaller than 0.2 mm surrounded by Fe-Ni alloys and the mineral enstatite. It is named after its SiNO composition and can be prepared in the laboratory as a

silicon oxynitride Silicon oxynitride is a ceramic material with the chemical formula SiOxNy. While in amorphous forms its composition can continuously vary between SiO2 (silica) and Si3N4 (silicon nitride), the only known intermediate crystalline phase is Si2N2O. It ...

ceramic. The crystalline structure of silicon oxynitride is built by SiN₃O tetrahedra connected through oxygen atoms along the ''c'' axis and through nitrogen atoms perpendicular to it. The strong covalent bonding of this structure results in high

flexural strength Flexural strength, also known as modulus of rupture, or bend strength, or transverse rupture strength is a material property, defined as the stress in a material just before it yields in a flexure test. The transverse bending test is most frequ ...

and resistance to heating and oxidation up to temperatures of about 1600 °C.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite book, author=Ralf Riedel, title=Ceramics science and technology: Structures, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I-WFvgkBiEMC&pg=PA97, accessdate=8 October 2011, date=18 April 2008, publisher=Wiley-VCH, isbn=978-3-527-31155-2, pages=97– {{cite journal, url=http://www.minsocam.org/msa/ammin/toc/Articles_Free/1997/Rubin_p1001-1006_97.pdf, journal=American Mineralogist, author=A. E. Rubin, title=Sinoite (Si₂N₂O): Crystallization from EL chondrite impact melts, volume=82, page=1001, year=1997, issue=9–10, doi=10.2138/am-1997-9-1016, bibcode=1997AmMin..82.1001R, s2cid=128629202 {{cite journal, title=Solid Solubility of Aluminum in O'-SiAlON, journal=J. Am. Ceram. Soc., author= Ohashi, Masayoshi, year=1993, volume=76, pages=2112–2114, doi=10.1111/j.1151-2916.1993.tb08343.x, issue=8, display-authors=etal Native element minerals Orthorhombic minerals Minerals in space group 36