Russian scientists have discovered a new mineral that can become the basis for the creation of ultra-high-capacity batteries. The mineral was named in honor of Academician Sergey Smirnov, who discovered the deposits where the mineral was found — sergeysmirnovite.

The new mineral was discovered by scientists of St. Petersburg State University and the Kola Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the press service of St. Petersburg State University reported.

The discovered mineral contains magnesium, zinc and phosphorus. Scientists suggest that it may have good proton conductivity – thanks to this property, analogues of the found mineral can be used to create ultra-high-capacity batteries.

The mineral was discovered in the Yakut Kester deposit in the Verkhoyansky district in the Republic of Yakutia. In Soviet times, there were camps of prisoners who developed deposits of casitterite – ore for tin.

Academician Sergey Smirnov received the Stalin Prize for the discovery of these deposits. Now his name has been immortalized in the name of the discovered mineral – sergeysmirnovite. Earlier, several more minerals were discovered in this area.

"Thus, the names of the minerals discovered by us – epifanovite, batagaite, sergeismirnovite – simultaneously perpetuate the tragic history of our country (batagaite) and the names of geologists who worked in the Verkhoyansk Region (epifanovite, sergeismirnovite)," said Sergey Krivovich, Professor of the Department of Crystallography of St. Petersburg State University and Director General of the Kola Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

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Author: Olga Paramonova

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