Quasicrystal Developed During Accidental Electrical Discharge

A group of scientists from Università di Firenze, the University of South Florida, California Institute of Technology and Princeton College has discovered an incidence of a quasicrystal developed during an accidental electric discharge.

In their paper released in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team describes their research of a quasicrystal discovered in a sand dune in Nebraska.

Quasicrystals

Quasicrystals, as their name recommends, are crystal-like substances. They have qualities not discovered in ordinary crystals, like a non-repeating arrangement of atoms. To date, quasicrystals have been located embedded in meteorites and also in the debris from nuclear blasts. In this recent effort, the scientists found one embedded in a dune in Sand Hills, Nebraska.

Research of the quasicrystal revealed it had 12-fold, or dodecagonal, symmetry– something seldom seen in quasicrystals. Curious as to the way it might have formed and how it ended up in the sand dune, the scientists did some examining. They found that a power line had fallen on the dune, likely due to a lightning strike. They recommend the electrical rise from either the power line or the lightning could have generated the quasicrystal.

The scientists take note that the quasicrystal was found within a tubular piece of fulgurite, which they recommend was also formed during the electric surge due to the fusing of melted sand and metal from the power line.

In considering the quasicrystal using an electron microscope, the investigators had the ability to make out its composition. In so doing, they discovered bits of silicon dioxide glass, which told them that temperatures inside the sand dune during the electric discharge had to have reached at least 1,710 levels Celsius. They likewise found that the quasicrystal had been retrieved from a transition region between melted aluminum alloy and silicate glass. Their work confirmed that the object they were examining was, certainly, a quasicrystal, which it had a previously unseen composition.

The researchers end that discovering a quasicrystal in such an area suggests that anothers are likely out there, also having developed because of lightning strikes or downed power lines. They additionally suggest their work could lead to techiniques to produce quasicrystals in the laboratory.

Read The Original Article on PHYS.

Read more: Stunning James Webb Space Telescope Image Transforms a Distant Galaxy Into a Sparkling Christmas Ornament