An in‐situ Mössbauer Study of the Formation of Cementite, Fe₃C

The formation of cementite, Fe 3 C, from thin iron foils has been studied at 550 and 650 °C by means of in‐situ Mössbauer spectroscopy. At 550 °C, the kinetics of the reaction have been determined from time‐resolved experiments performed at different carbon activities. The product formation follows a two‐step process exhibiting two different kinetic regimes. The slow initial stages of the reaction as well as its rapid final part can be described by an Avrami‐type kinetics with a characteristic parameter of n = 3/2.