Mössbauer spectroscopy has become an extremely powerful tool in analyzing iron containing material. At least half a dozen different oxides and hydroxides as corrosion products, which grow under different conditions, can be analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. We have employed Mössbauer spectroscopy, in several cases together with ESCA (available in our laboratory), to samples from many projects like:
- Corrosion of steel in natural convection boilers /47, 48/
- Pase transformations between corrosion products /64/
- Mössbauer and ESCA studies on the formation of oxidic iron phases and the effect of organic corrosion inhibitors /65/
- Formation of oxidic layers on steel surfaces /72/, particularly after corrosion in solutions containing aggressive anions such as chromate or chloride /76/, phosphate /81, 91, 107/, sulfate and sulfite /198/
- CEMS studies of passivated layers on iron and steel /130, 136, 148,151/
- Integrated CEMS and Depth-Selected CEMS of iron layers deposited on Al and Si /152, 188/
- Formation of layers on Si steel under thermal treatment in H2/water atmosphere /164, 185/
- Corrosion resistence of Ti and TiN coated steel surface /159, 229/
- Electrochemical and CEMS study of corrosion induced by acid rain /204, 214, 215, 235/
- Study of phase composition of iron-containing Langmuir-Blodgett layers before and after thermal and chemical treatment /192, 201, 242, 244/
- Finely dispersed iron oxides and hydroxides generated by atmospheric corrosion can be detected by 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy of atmospheric aerosols /258/
In the course of our corrosion studies we also carried out an extensive research project together with SCHOTT Company in Mainz exploring fundamental processes during leaching of glass surfaces using ESCA (Electron Spectroscopy for Chemical Analysis), Raman and NMR measurements /166, 183, 208, 283/. We have developed a model („Discrete Bond Model”) which has been widely accepted for the description of glass structure.
A collaboration with the Division of Applied Science of Brookhaven National Laboratory (USA) and the Department of Materials Science of Sate University of New York at Stony Brook has concentrated on the characterization by Mössbauer spectroscopy of the role of nano-sized iron particles in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (356, 366).