The crystal structure of the selenide-based synthetic sulfosalt CuPbSb3Se6

Abstract

Single crystals of copper lead tri-anti-mony hexa-selenide, CuPbSb₃Se₆, were obtained as a minor phase during systematic studies of the formation conditions of selenide-based sulfosalts. The crystal structure is an unusual representative of the family of sulfosalts. Instead of the expected galena-like slabs with octa-hedral coordination, it features mono and double-capped trigonal-prismatic (Pb), square-pyramidal (Sb) and trigonal-bipyramidal (Cu) coordination. All metal positions are occupationally and/or positionally disordered.

Keywords: crystal structure; disorder; selenide; sulfosalt.