Probing strain and defects induced by the reduction of iron oxides with hydrogen

This experiment aims to investigate the 3D orientation, strain, and defect distribution in solid iron oxides during hydrogen-based direct reduction (HyDR). Here, we propose to employ interrupted in-situ synchrotron 3D X-ray diffraction (3D-XRD) and dark-field X-ray microscopy (DFXM) to determine: (i) 3D grain distribution in the probed volume; (ii) 3D local orientation distribution of a selected hematite or wüstite grain and its neighboring magnetite or iron grains, respectively, and (iii) 3D strain distribution and evolution in selected individual grains along reduction process. This knowledge will provide new insights into (i) the reduction-induced strain and crystal defects and (2) the role of local defects in transport and reduction kinetics, disentangling the fundamental chemo-mechanical mechanisms of HyDR of metal oxides for sustainable metallurgical processes.