The change of crystal structure during the reduction of iron oxide and the growth mechanism of fibrous iron were investigated. In order to elucidate the crystallographic transition of Fe
2O
3 during the reduction, platelets of Fe
2O
3 single crystal with flat (0001) plane (approx. 5 mm in width and 0.5 mm in thickness) were used as samples. Each of Fe
3O
4, FeO, and Fe was prepared by the reduction of the Fe
2O
3 sample at 750°C in the CO-CO
2 mixture with an appropriate composition for each. The structures of the products were analyzed by X-ray diffraction including the Lane methods and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).
The X-ray diffraction revealed that (0001) plane of Fe
20
3 changed to (111) plane of Fe3O4 and (111) plane of FeO by epitaxial reactions. SEM revealed that as the reduction proceeded, steps parallel to (0001) plane of Fe
2O
3 appeared remarkably, and fibrous iron grew from some nuclei on the steps. The fibrous iron was never seen on (0001) plane of Fe
2O
3, and the direction of most active growth was [2110] of Fe
2O
3.
抄録全体を表示