title: Structure of pyrrhotite 5C (Fe9S10).
abstract: The distribution of vacancies throughout the underlying NiAs structure of pyrrhotite 5C was analysed through the application of vacancy avoidance and the closeness condition in conjunction with order-disorder layering. Two crystallographically equivalent structure solutions (chiral enantiomers) were produced consisting of layers containing one vacancy in every eight iron sites broken by a fully occupied layer every fifth iron layer, and best described by monoclinic statistical models. The statistical 5C structures were verified using synchrotron powder diffraction data as well as published electron-diffraction patterns. An order-disorder structure description is proposed for the intermediate pyrrhotites of which pyrrhotite 5C is an end-member.
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Minerals Down Under Flagship, CSIRO Process Science and Engineering, Parker CRC for Integrated Hydrometallurgy Solutions, PO Box 7229, Karawara, Western Australia 6152, Australia. alexander.elliot@csiro.au
authors.forename: Alexander Dean
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Elliot