Agglomeration Behavior and Atomistic Mechanism of Cerium Oxide Particles in the Fe-Ce-O-S Melts

This article aims to investigate the agglomeration behavior of cerium oxide particles at the interface of high-temperature melts. The high-temperature experiment with 0.15% cerium addition is carried out at 1600 & DEG;C and the type of cerium oxide is detected to be Ce-O-S particles according to thermodynamic calculation and energy-dispersive analysis. The attractive force between particles is analyzed by high-temperature confocal laser scanning microscopy and the Kralchevsky-Paunov model. The in situ observation indicates that the largest acting distance between Ce-O-S particle pairs is measured to be 80 & mu;m. The attractive force becomes weak as the distance between Ce-O-S particle pairs (L) decreases, and a stronger attractive force exists between Ce-O-S particle pairs with a smaller radius ratio (R1/R2). The capillary force for Ce-O-S particles is weaker than that for Ce2O3 particles. The first-principles results indicate that the wettability at the interface of the Fe/Ce2O3-S system is weaker than the Fe-S/Ce2O3 system, which is in agreement with the in situ observation and Kralchevsky-Paunov model results. Furthermore, the atomistic mechanism of agglomeration behavior is revealed. This article aims to investigate the agglomeration behavior of cerium oxide particles at the interface of high-temperature melts. The high-temperature experiment with 0.15% cerium addition is carried out at 1600 & DEG;C and the type of cerium oxide is detected to be Ce-O-S particles. The attractive force between particles is analyzed by high-temperature confocal laser scanning microscopy and the Kralchevsky-Paunov model.image & COPY; 2023 WILEY-VCH GmbH