Among the industrial minerals high terahedra density and consequent hardness are also found in chain silicates. Wollastonite is characterized by the repeating, twisted, three-tetrahedra unit depicted in Figure 5.
Wollastonite |
The chains formed by these silica tetrahedra are connected by calcium in octahedral coordination. Because of this chain structure wollastonite can occur as acicular crystals, in some cases of macroscopic dimensions. This acicular particle shape is important in certain uses as a functional mineral filler.
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