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Study of the phase composition of iron‐containing Langmuir–Blodgett layers before and after thermal and chemical treatment
Author(s) -
Meisel W.,
Gütlich P.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
surface and interface analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.52
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1096-9918
pISSN - 0142-2421
DOI - 10.1002/sia.740190184
Subject(s) - stearate , iron oxide , inorganic chemistry , hydrogen , chemistry , oxide , amorphous solid , silicon , crystallography , organic chemistry
Abstract Iron‐containing Langmuir–Blodgett mono‐ and multilayers were prepared by depositing ferric stearate onto silicon wafers. Particular care should be taken in order to avoid the presence of alkali ions, which may replace iron ions in the deposited film. By a subsequent heating in air, the fatty acid chains were thermodesorbed. This results in a rather homogeneous coating of the samples by an iron oxide, most probably in the form of crystalline and amorphous γ‐FeOOH, as found by conversion electron Mössbauer, photoelectron and microprobe studies. By a subsequent heating in hydrogen gas or exposure to nascent hydrogen, a partial reduction of the iron oxide layer is possible up to the metallic state (α‐Fe). The Mössbauer spectra show the formation of a mixture of different iron species (Fe 3+ , Fe 2+ , Fe 0 ) depending on the reductive treatment.