Surface structure of finely dispersed iron powders II. Specific features of stabilizing coating structure

Abstract Specific features of a stabilizing coating of finely dispersed iron powders (FDIP) have been studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), including chemical labelling of functional groups to analyze the surface. The stabilizing coating on the surface of an oxide film covering the α-iron “core” of FDIP was shown to consist of two condensed layers of a copolymer of an unsaturated stabilizer, oleic acid, with oxygen. When isophytol is used as an adsorptive modifier in the preparation of FDIP, the outer layer of the stabilizing coating mainly involves a copolymer of isophytol with oxygen.