Reduction of iron oxide by hydrogen studied using environmental transmission electron microscopy

Sammanfattning: This thesis aims to explore how the reduction of iron oxide by hydrogen should be explored in an environmental transmission electron microscope (ETEM). This is done by performing a series of reduction attempts in the ETEM at nCHREM, Lund University, and exploring how the ETEM conditions are different from those used commercially. Various reduction parameters are explored, the presence of water vapour, the hydrogen pressure, the temperature, the effect of the electron beam, the presence of contaminants, and the effect of the silicon nitride film that the sample is mounted on. The reduction results are inconclusive since full reduction is not obtained without the presence of gallium in the reduction. It is indirectly shown that gallium can potentially aid in the reduction of iron oxides. It is concluded that ETEM studies of iron oxide reduction can be applied in industrial processes if some considerations are taken into account.