Microstructure of Fibrous Sulphur

PRINS et al. 1–4 have shown, using X-ray diffraction, that fibrous sulphur (S ψ ) is made up of a long-chained polymeric component (S μ ) together with a crystalline allotrope (S γ ). Prins et al. 2 have also proposed a model for the polymer in which the sulphur atoms are arranged in a helical structure with 3 1 3 atoms per turn; later, Prins and Tuinstra 3 suggested the possibility of a spiral superstructure of these helices, with a longitudinal repeat distance of 78 Å.