Gemological Characteristics and Chemical Composition of a New Type of Black Jadeite and Three Imitations

Zheng，Beiqi1,2; Li，Ke3; Zhang，Yuyang4

2022-05-01

10.3390/cryst12050658

Crystals   影响因子和分区

2073-4352

Because of the increasing price of jadeite, many fake species have appeared on the market. We recognized three pieces of fake black jadeite that had been placed among real black jadeite. In this study we conducted a mineralogical investigation of the three fakes and the real jadeite by using FTIR and XRD techniques; in addition, we performed in situ major, minor and trace element chemical characterization based on EPMA-WDS and LA-ICP-MS techniques. The three imitations have different components, dominated by katophorite (97%), augite (66%) and anorthite (97%). In con-trast, the real jadeite sample contains more than 99% jadeite. Unlike previous reports on black jade-ite, the dark omphacite exsolution around the jadeite cleavage is the chromogenic factor in the pre-sent study, whereas the black color of the imitations comes from light absorption by major melano-cratic minerals and widespread fine graphite. We propose that 2–4 sharp bands between 600 and 800 cm of FTIR and the 2.42 and 2.49 Å peaks of XRD can be used to discriminate black jadeite from imitations. Even though natural jadeite deposits are being exhausted, materials of the three natural imitations were determined not to be suitable for jewelry due to low hardness, widespread occurrence and unknown injury of the radioactive elements thorium and uranium. Otherwise, they could enhance value and be ideal for large-sized ornaments of fine design.

colorization mechanism composition imitation jadeite

英语

其他

2-s2.0-85130063590

Scopus

1.School of Environment,Harbin Institute of Technology,Harbin,150090,China
2.Department of Earth and Space Sciences,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen,518055,China
3.Institute of Technical Information for Building Materials Industry,Beijing,100024,China
4.Gemmological Institute,China University of Geosciences,Wuhan,430074,China

Zheng，Beiqi,Li，Ke,Zhang，Yuyang. Gemological Characteristics and Chemical Composition of a New Type of Black Jadeite and Three Imitations[J]. Crystals,2022,12(5).

Zheng，Beiqi,Li，Ke,&Zhang，Yuyang.(2022).Gemological Characteristics and Chemical Composition of a New Type of Black Jadeite and Three Imitations.Crystals,12(5).

Zheng，Beiqi,et al."Gemological Characteristics and Chemical Composition of a New Type of Black Jadeite and Three Imitations".Crystals 12.5(2022).