Structure of titanium-doped goethite rust

To investigate the influence of titanium addition on the formation and structure of goethite (α-FeOOH) rust which is one of main corrosion products of weathering steel, the artificially synthesized α-FeOOH rusts were prepared by hydrolysis of aqueous solutions of Fe(III) containing Ti(IV) at different atomic ratios (Ti/Fe) in the range 0–0.1. The obtained rusts particles were observed by TEM. Characterization by XRD, N2 absorption, Mössbauer spectroscopy was also done. TEM observation revealed that the α-FeOOH rust particle size increased with the increase of Ti/Fe, and that Ti-enriched poorly crystalline particles were formed around the rust particles. XRD confirmed that the crystallite size increased with the increase of Ti/Fe, while the XRD peaks decreased in intensity. Specific surface area obtained by N2 absorption increased with the increase of Ti/Fe. It is deduced from the obtained results that the addition of Ti(IV) increases the crystallite size of α-FeOOH, and produces double domain particles consisting of the particle core and a porous poorly crystalline shell. It is thought that such unique rust structure produced by titanium addition contributes to the protective properties of rust layer of the weathering steel.