SusChEM: Indium in Magmatic-Hydrothermal Systems

21世纪世纪的新技术，从液晶显示器到触摸屏和太阳能电池，都涉及到使用一些金属，而这些金属在几十年前还不是地球的主流资源。人类的创新为铟带来了新的用途，包括生产氧化铟锡（ITO），这是一种既导电又光学透明的物质。这些特性允许其用作智能手机、平板电脑和相关设备的触摸屏中的有源组件。因此，从1990年代到2000年代中期，对铟的需求增加了三倍，而ITO一直是这一需求增长的主要原因。本文提出的研究不仅将提高我们对铟在地壳中分布的认识，而且将有助于勘探新的含铟矿石，从而有助于满足国家未来的铟需求。铟的主要来源包括块状硫化物矿床、脉矿床（包括与花岗岩有关的脉）和其他与花岗岩有关的矿床。铟是最常见的回收闪锌矿，硫化锌miner.As这项工作的一部分，实验将进行关闭关键差距，我们的知识有关铟之间的结晶，水，熔融相的次火山岩浆系统的分布，以及铟纳入闪锌矿在成矿条件下的热力学。研究结果将允许定量估计的岩浆热液的效率，铟可以从岩浆中去除，并纳入闪锌矿的矿石。拟议的研究将使勘探者和研究人员能够测试高温含铟矿石形成的假设。该项目由NSF FY14可持续化学，工程和材料（SusChEM）倡议支持。

New technologies for the 21st century, with applications from LCD displays to touch screens and solar cells, involve the use of some metals that were not mainstream Earth resources just a few decades ago. Human innovation has led to new uses for indium, including the production of indium tin oxide (ITO), a substance that is both electrically conductive and optically transparent. These properties permit its use as the active component in the touch screens of smart phones, tablets, and related devices. As a result, the demand for indium increased three-fold from the 1990s to the mid-2000s, and ITO has been responsible for much of this increased demand. The research proposed herein will not only improve our understanding of the distribution of indium in the crust of the Earth, but will aid in the exploration for new indium-bearing ores, and thereby, help provide for the future indium needs of the country.The primary sources for indium include massive sulfide deposits, vein deposits including granite-related veins, and other granite-related deposits. Indium is most commonly recovered from sphalerite, a zinc sulfide mineral. As part of this work, experiments will be performed to close critical gaps in our knowledge concerning the distribution of indium among the crystalline, aqueous, and molten phases of sub-volcanic magmatic systems, as well as the thermodynamics of the incorporation of indium into sphalerite under ore-forming conditions. Results of the research will permit quantitative estimates of the magmatic-hydrothermal efficiency with which indium can be removed from magmas, and be incorporated into sphalerite-bearing ores. The proposed research will permit explorationists and researchers to test hypotheses for the formation of high-temperature indium-bearing ores. This project is supported via the NSF FY14 Sustainable Chemistry, Engineering, and Materials (SusChEM) initiative.