Identification of the products of combustion of group VIII metal salts by X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Abstract

The crystalline products resulting from the combustion of Fe, Co and Ni salts have been studied by X-ray diffraction. The major crystalline phases were Fe₃O₄ for Fe, CoO and Co₃O₄ for Co, and Ni⁰ and NiO for Ni. On exposure of the combustion products to moisture, important changes in surface composition were revealed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Hydrated iron(III) and cobalt(III) oxides were detected as the Fe and Co products, respectively, whereas the major surface compound of Ni was NiO(OH).