Crystallography
Department of crystallography SPbU was founded in 1924 by Osip M. Anscheles. The Department is well known in Russia and abroad, thanks to its glorious scientific crystallographic traditions that date back to the founder of modern science of crystals, great Russian crystallographer Evgraf S. Fedorov (1853 – 1918).
The research focuses on a range of different areas: crystal chemistry, growth of single crystals, structural mineralogy, biomineralogy, materials science etc.
Our undergraduate programs are widely admired. The academic staff of the Department of Crystallography SPbU offers a very well supported and personal experience. Our students join a friendly and supportive group of qualified teachers and solid researchers, whose interest span the whole of modern crystallography, mineralogy, and structural chemistry.
Crystallography education programs focus mainly on improving of fundamental understanding of crystal chemistry. The aim is to use the research results of our experienced academic staff in teaching and learning of crystallography and to develop novel efficient pedagogical approaches for education of modern generations of students by saving and keeping the expertise of the internationally recognized St. Peteresburg school of crystallography.
The Department of Crystallography of St Petersburg University is equipped with modern tools which allow for advanced mineral and synthetic material characterization of various crystalline systems. For the material synthesis and processing, several high temperature muffle and tube furnaces are regularly in use. Teflon-lined steel reaction vessels are used for the synthesis by hydrothermal methods. A laboratory vacuum tube sealing unit is used to grow crystals from the gas phase in the course of chemical vapor transport reactions. The synthesis laboratory has chemical hoods and gloveboxes to carry out wet chemistry and air-sensitive manipulations in a safe and controlled environment.
The research is carrying out with the help of the Center of X-ray diffraction studies at the Research park of St Petersburg University (XRD Center SPbU).
The main directions of the research at the Department are the following:
- Mineralogical crystallography (Prof. S.V. Krivovichev, Prof. O.I. Siidra, Assoc. Prof. A.A. Zolotarev);
- Crystal Chemistry of uranium compounds (Assoc. Prof. V.V. Gurzhiy, Assoc. Prof. E.V. Nazarchuk);
- Biomineralogy and organic mineralogy (Prof. O.V. Frank-Kamenetskaya, Prof. E.N. Kotelnikova, Dr. A.R. Izatulina);
- Crystal chemistry of borates and borosilicates (Prof. S.K. Filatov, Prof. R.S. Bubnova, Assoc. Prof. M.G. Krzhizhanovskaya);
- Cosmic mineralogy (Prof. S.N. Britvin).
In accordance with the main scientific areas developing by our researh leaders, the Department of Crystallography SPbU offers the following main educational topics:
- Fundametals of crystallography;
- Crystal chemistry;
- Crystal physics;
- Crystal optics;
- Crystal genesis;
- Synthesis of crystalline solids;
- Structural mineralogy;
- Natural materials;
- Biomineralogy;
- Powder X-ray diffraction analysis;
- Rietveld method;
- Single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis;
- Crystallographic (Federov) space groups;
- Crystal chemistry at extreme conditions;
- Crystal chemistry of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste.