Hemimorphite Imitation: Wollastonite Glass-Ceramic

Recently, a kind of hemimorphite imitation named "Snow hemimorphite" appeared in the market.Gemmological characteristics, spectral characteristics and coloration mechanism were preliminarily studied with the help of conventional gemmological testing methods, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and other large equipments in order to ascertain its components, and to compare with similar materials.The results showed that "Snow hemimorphite" had low refractive index (1.50), low specific gravity (2.50) and typical fibrous structure of wollastonite glass-ceramic, which was observed in the gemmological microscope.Infrared spectrum and Raman spectrum both showed typical spectral bands of glass and wollastonite.Besides, the "Snow hemimorphite" samples could be distinguished from hemimorphite and other similar materials through spectral characteristics.The results of UV-Vis spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy revealed that the element Cu in the "Snow hemimorphite" sample caused the blue colour.