STABILITY AND MAGNETIC-PROPERTIES OF AN IRON MERCURY ALLOY

Iron amalgams have been studied by Mossbauer spectroscopy and magnetization measurements between 7 and 425 K. The Mossbauer spectra at 12 K show that the iron is present in at least two different sites. After heat treatments the Mossbauer spectra change into the typical spectrum of alpha-Fe, and the magnetic moment per iron atom, at 275 K, increases. It is suggested that the iron forms a metastable alloy with mercury, which decomposes at about 360 K. The Fe-Hg alloy is found to be ferromagnetically ordered with a corresponding Curie temperature of about 445 K.