The effect of Fe2Al5 as reducing agent in intermediate steps of 'Al2O3/TiC-Fe composite production process

• It is proven that Fe2Al5 acts as the reducing agent for intermediate TiO2 phase.
• Fe-TiC/Al2O3 formation process was studied in detail.
• The ilmenite and Fe2Al5 were synthesized to prevent the presence of impurities.

Al2O3/TiC-Fe cutting tools can be produced in-situ by using ilmenite, aluminum and graphite. The formation mechanism of the system was investigated in some researches. Most of them have diagnosed the aluminum as reducing agent of TiO2, but in this study, it is proven that Fe2Al5 acts as the reducing agent for TiO2 in the intermediate steps of the reactions. To achieve this goal, firstly, the reactions of synthesized ilmenite, aluminum and graphite system were investigated in detail. Then, pure Fe2Al5 was synthesized, and mixed with definite amount of TiO2. The sample mixture was heat treated at the same temperature at the real reaction temperature, namely, 930 °C. The final products were analyzed with XRD. It was found that the product heat treatment of F2Al5 and TiO2 mixture was the same as the sample of ilmenite, aluminum and graphite mixture with a molar ratio of 1:2:1 heat treated at 930 °C.

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