MOSSBAUER-EFFECT AND XRD STUDIES OF IRON-ZINC BINARY-ALLOYS

Mossbauer spectroscopy and XRD were employed to characterize the microstructural properties of iron-zinc binary alloys between 0-31 at.% Fe. Samples were prepared with accuracies of +/-0.5 at.% Fe, and the Mossbauer and lattice parameters were monitored as a function of iron concentration across each phase. Two iron sites were observed in the Gamma phase (18-31 at.% Fe), whose occupancies and isomer shifts varied continuously with iron content. However, the quadrupole splitting of each site remained constant. Within the Gamma(1) phase (19-24 at.% Fe), three iron sites were observed whose isomer shifts and quadrupole splittings remained constant, while their occupancies varied with iron concentration. For the first time, a third iron site was observed in the delta phase (8-13 at.% Fe), whose occupancy increases with iron content. Also, the site occupancies of the two other delta sites appear to remain constant, while other Mossbauer parameters vary continuously with iron content. Analysis of the xi phase (6-7 at.% Fe) showed the presence of one iron site, whose parameters were not observed to change due to the small variance in iron concentration. XRD studies indicate the lattice parameters across the Gamma and delta phases vary continuously with iron concentration. Moreover, a better understanding of these phases, as formed in galvanneal steel coatings, was obtained.