Direct Observation of Atomic Arrangement in Multicomponent Calcium Ferrite Using Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy

To reduce the reducing agent ratio and CO2 emissions in blast furnace operation, it is important to control the material structure of sintered ore, which affects its metallurgical and mechanical properties. Multicomponent calcium ferrites (also called CF or SFCA (silico-ferrite of calcium and aluminum)), which is a type of melting and solidification structure, has attracted considerable interest recently, and the chemical composition and crystal structure of each CF have been researched. Although the crystal structure of CF has conventionally been analyzed mainly by XRD, the atomic arrangement could not be observed directly. Therefore, in this study, CF was investigated at the atomic level by scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). This research revealed that acicular CF, which was previously understood to be SFCA-I, has a SFCA (not equal SFCA-I) structure. It was also found that columnar CF had a non-periodic SFCA structure induced with a magnetite-like structure. Furthermore, a CF in which SFCA and SFCA-I were alternately stacked repeatedly was also discovered. This research clarified the fact that CF has a non-periodic structure at the atomic level.