Copper is my fav element, but for #MinCup26 final, I am team #Quartz! Pilati used its vibrational spectra to calculate how atoms move in its framework at room temperature. Quartz turns atomic motion into measurable behaviour. Read the @actacrystb.iucr.org study: journals.iucr.org/paper?cr0463=

I’m team #Quartz all the way in #MinCup26! Under pressure, its SiO₂ framework does not simply shrink: Si–O–Si bridges flex and SiO₄ tetrahedra distort. d’Amour, Denner and Schulz reveal this structural resilience in their 1979 @actacrystb.iucr.org classic: journals.iucr.org/paper?a17323=

Let's see #Cuprite in #MinCup26 finals! Jauch and Reehuis used γ-ray diffraction to revisit how electrons are arranged in Cu₂O, finding incomplete ionization of Cu and O but no Cu–Cu charge build-up to support covalent bonding. Reported in @actacrystb.iucr.org: journals.iucr.org/paper?S20525...

I’m voting #Graphite in this #MinCup26 round! Trömel compares graphite with graphene and asks what their unusually close-packed carbon atoms reveal about the rigidity of their layers. A thought-provoking read in @actacrystb.iucr.org (article in German): journals.iucr.org/paper?sn0042=

I’m voting #Halite in the #MinCup26 quarter-finals! The familiar NaCl lattice has another life in hydrohalite, NaCl·2H₂O, where water reshapes it into a distinct crystal structure. Check out Klewe and Pedersen’s classic @actacrystb.iucr.org determination: journals.iucr.org/paper?a11282=

I still think #Quartz should win #MinCup26! Yogev-Einot and Avnir show that its structure is not simply right- or left-handed: T and P change the symmetry, helicity and degree of chirality of its SiO₄-based building blocks. More in @actacrystb.iucr.org: journals.iucr.org/paper?bk0144=

I’m voting #Sphalerite for #MinCup26! Ulian and Valdrè map how its zinc-blende ZnS structure responds to pressure - its direct band gap becomes indirect above 11 GPa, before it transforms to a rock-salt phase at about 14.7 GPa. Read more in @actacrystb.iucr.org: journals.iucr.org/paper?bm5116=

I’m voting #Graphite for #MinCup26! Under high P and T, Kulnitskiy et al. transformed graphite into a carbon landscape of diamond nanoparticles, lonsdaleite fragments, polytypes and twins. Read how changes in layer stacking produce this in @actacrystb.iucr.org : journals.iucr.org/paper?ps5025=

I’m voting #Halite in this #MinCup26 round! Under 1.7 GPa, NaCl forms a tridecahydrate with a hydrogen-bond network like ice VI, including orientationally disordered water molecules. Yamashita explores salt’s this high-pressure chemistry in @actacrystb.iucr.org: journals.iucr.org/paper?ne5013=

Vote #Pyromorphite for #MinCup26! In their @actacrystb.iucr.org paper Hirano and Okudera explore the lead-phosphate apatite framework shared by pyromorphite, showing how its chloride channel is shaped by the surrounding structure and Pb²⁺ lone-pair e- density. journals.iucr.org/b/issues/202...

Voting #Julienite for #MinCup26! Check out this classic @actacrystb.iucr.org by Cano et al. to see a different cobalt(II) thiocyanate, this one with Co-NCS-Co bridges, and with water molecules and sulfur completing a hydrogen-bond network. journals.iucr.org/paper?S05677...

I'm going for #Quartz to the end in #MinCup26! Need another reason to vote #Quartz? In @actacrystb.iucr.org, Fricke and Thomas modelled how its SiO₄ tetrahedra distort and tilt as temperature changes, then used that to predict the α- and β-structures at new temps! journals.iucr.org/b/issues/202...

Voting #Andalusite for #MinCup26! In @actacrystb.iucr.org, Pilati et al. use a lattice-dynamical model to predict its atoms’ thermal motion, specific heat and entropy, in close agreement with experiment. Structure is not just a still image. Read more: journals.iucr.org/paper?cr0515=

I’m voting #Vesuvianite in this #MinCup26 round! Gagné and Hawthorne analysed 63,081 alkali- and alkaline-earth-metal–O bond lengths in @actacrystb.iucr.org. Vesuvianite’s eight-coordinate Ca has four shorter and four longer Ca–O bonds, with more info here! journals.iucr.org/b/issues/201...

Vote #Sphalerite for #MinCup26! Its zinc-blende structure is more than a mineralogical classic; in their 2026 @actacrystb.iucr.org work, Naydenov show that in ZnSe it can host Cr, Co and Fe together, yielding homogeneous crystals for 2–5 μm laser applications. journals.iucr.org/b/issues/202...

Kinda chic like #Cassiterite: an industrially vital tin ore that can grow elaborate contact and cyclic crystal twins from tiny, structurally matched seeds. Daneu et al. report functional materials, but make the crystal architecture dramatic in @actacrystb.iucr.org: journals.iucr.org/b/issues/202...

Tough call in this #MinCup26 round, but I'm voting #Chrysocolla! Its variable, hydrated copper-silicate chemistry makes it difficult to pin down, but its formula leads to 1:1 phyllosilicate layers, which Mercier explored for kaolin in @actacrystb.iucr.org: journals.iucr.org/b/issues/200...

In this #MinCup26 round, I'm on team #Gadolinite! Even a classic rare-earth mineral family still has new crystal chemistry to reveal, as reported by Chukanov in @actacrystb.iucr.org with a gadolinite-(Y) analogue dominated by both hydroxyl and iron. journals.iucr.org/b/issues/201...

Voting #halite for #Mincup26! Its crystal structure is the archetype for alkali halides, and Kucharczyk showed in their 1987 @actacrystb.iucr.org how optical susceptibilities track ionic radii. In a halite-type crystal, even light can reveal the size of an ion. journals.iucr.org/b/issues/198...

I'm voting #cylindrite for #MinCup26! As reported by Evain in @actacrystb.iucr.org, levyclaudite-(Sb), a member of the cylindrite-type minerals, is incommensurately modulated and joins sheets with mismatched dimensions, producing its extraordinary curved form! journals.iucr.org/b/issues/200...