Effects of ceria coatings on pure iron oxidation. Comparison with extra low carbon steels

A comparison of results obtained on blank and coated specimens shows that ceria coatings strongly modify the microstructure and texture of the wustite scale formed during low pressure oxidation of pure iron. On coated specimens, all the scale is composed of fast growing (200) oriented wustite grains; crystallographic orientations (different from (200)) are no longer present in the wustite scale. The linear oxidation rates are always higher in the case of surface coated specimens due to the lack of epitaxial relationships with the metallic substrate. Cerium is located in the wustite matrix as a CeFeO3 phase which dissolves in FeO in time. Carbon and manganese, present as major impurities in an Extra Low Carbon Steel, have a strong influence on oxidation kinetics and on the rare-earth element location in oxide scales. Carbon, diffusing slowly from the matrix bulk to the metal-scale interface, promotes spallation of the wustite scale, but carbon does not hinder CeFeO3 formation. On the other hand, the manganese impurity prevents the formation of CeFeO3 due to the lack of contact between the reducing FeO germs and the oxidant CeO2. This lack of contact is due to the high vapour pressure of manganese oxides, which evaporate at the beginning of the reaction, and promotes immediate CeO2 coating spallation.