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Mechanisms for the Oxidation of Fe3O4

Nature volume 228, pages 548–549 (1970)Cite this article

Abstract

WE have published results1 of a study of the kinetics of the oxidation of a sample of Fe3O4 consisting of submicron crystals almost perfectly cubic and almost uniform in size2. In agreement with Egger and W. F.3 and W. F.4,5, it was found that the reaction was single phase topotactic (Fe3O4→Fe3−xO4→γ-Fe2O3). The mechanism proposed was based on the diffusion of iron cations, the coefficient of which was found to depend on the Fe2+/total iron ratio. When a model of this mechanism was simulated on a computer, an accurate prediction was obtained of the kinetic behaviour over all composition ranges.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Anorganische, Analytische und Physikalische Chemie der Universität Bern, Freiestrasse 3, CH-3000, Bern, 9

    W. FEITKNECHT

  2. Department of Chemistry University College of Swansea, Pwansea, Glamorganshire

    K. J. GALLAGHER

Authors
  1. W. FEITKNECHT
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  2. K. J. GALLAGHER
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FEITKNECHT, W., GALLAGHER, K. Mechanisms for the Oxidation of Fe3O4. Nature 228, 548–549 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1038/228548a0

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