The Role of Atmosphere on Phase Transformations and Magnetic Properties of Ulvospinel

Abstract

We have synthesized the antiferromagnetic mineral ulvospinel, Fe <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> TiO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">4,</sub> in Ar to assess the role of inert atmosphere on phase formation and magnetic properties. We report the role of atmosphere on a possible phase transition and the magnetic properties of this mineral. Atmosphere dependent transformations of ulvospinel are observed with increasing temperature. Oxidation of ulvospinel to form metastable titanomaghemite is shown to occur at 300° in atmospheric conditions. Only slight titanomaghematitzation was observed in samples transformed under pressure in in situ temperature dependent X-ray experiments. Formation of ilmenite and hematite from ulvospinel was observed under high temperature, high pressure, and low oxygen atmosphere conditions.