Technology of iron carbide synthesis

Iron carbides are very promising metallurgical products and can be used for steelmaking process, where it plays as an alternative raw material with significant economic advantages. Also it has many other applications, e.g. catalysts, magnets, sensors. The present review investigates the different properties and uses of the iron carbides. The commercial production and the different varieties for the iron carbides synthesis (gaseous carburization, mechanochemical synthesis, laser pyrolysis, plasma pyrolysis, chemical vapor deposition and ion implantation) were reviewed. Also the effect of different factors on the carburization process like gas composition, raw material, temperature, reaction time, catalyst presence and sulfur addition was indicated.