Simultaneous carbothermic reduction of iron and titanium oxides to produce an iron-based composite by mechanically activated sintering method

•Hematite and anatase were not reduced by petrocoke after 20 h of milling.•Mechanically activation decreased reduction temperature of hematite by nearly 400 °C.•Fe–TiC nanocomposite was synthesized by heating of 20 h activated powder at 1200 °C.

In this research, for the first time, Fe–TiC nano-crystalline composite was produced via simultaneous reduction of iron and titanium oxides by petrocoke. Powder mixture of Fe2O3/TiO2/petrocoke was mechanically activated in a high-energy ball mill at different times. X-ray diffraction method (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) were used to characterize the milled powders. The results showed that new phases were not formed during milling, even after 20 h of milling. However, crystallite size and lattice strain of hematite were remarkably decreased and increased, respectively. Thermogravimetry and Differential Thermal Analysis (TG–DTA) were done on 0, 10 and 20 h mechanically activated powders. These experiments showed a substantial decrease in reduction temperature of iron and titanium oxides as a result of mechanical activation. Then, the powders were cold compacted and sintered at 1200 °C in argon atmosphere for 1 h. XRD results of 20 h milled samples demonstrated that, in this condition, iron oxide was completely reduced to nano-crystalline iron and titanium dioxide was reduced to nano-crystalline titanium carbide and Fe–TiC nano-crystalline composite was successfully formed.

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