pollucite

/ pəˈluːˌsaɪt; ˈpɒljʊˌsaɪt /

noun

1. a colourless rare mineral consisting of a hydrated caesium aluminium silicate, often containing some rubidium. It occurs in coarse granite, esp in Manitoba, and is an important source of caesium. Formula: CsAlSi 2 O 6 . 1 2 H 2 O

Word History and Origins

Origin of pollucite¹

C19: from Latin polluc-, stem of Pollux + -ite ¹; originally called pollux, alluding to Castor and Pollux, since it was associated with another mineral called castor or castorite

Example Sentences

Utsunomiya continued, "because we knew that most of the Cs in CsMPs is fission derived, we thought that analysis of the pollucite could yield the first ever direct images of radioactive Cs atoms."

From Science Daily

Zeolites can become amorphous when subjected to electron beam irradiation, but that damage is related to the composition of the zeolite, and the team found that some pollucite inclusions were stable in the electron beam.

From Science Daily

"It was incredibly exciting to see the beautiful pattern of Cs atoms in the pollucite structure, where about half of the atoms in the image correspond to radioactive Cs."

From Science Daily