Epsilon-iron

First attempts to check this hypothesis [23] revealed a superior catalytic activity of iron in amorphous iron-zirconium alloys in ammonia synthesis compared to the same iron surface exposed in crystalline conventional catalysts. A detailed analysis of the effect subsequently revealed that the alloy, under catalytic conditions, was not amorphous but crystallized into platelets of metastable epsilon-iron supported on Zr-oxide [24, 25]. 

Another mode of activation ofiron catalysis is their nitridation by treatment with anhydrous ammonia at 300-350 C. This technique was developed in about 1950 by Anderson and coworkers at the U.S. Bureau of Mines (61,62]. The epsilon iron nitride produced (FejN) gave a high and relatively constant activity, and an unusual selectivity, producing a relatively low molecular weigitt product with large yields of alcohols. 

Uchida T., Wang Y. B., Rivers M. L., and Sutton S. R. (2001) Stability field and thermal equation of state of epsilon-iron determined by synchrotron X-ray diffraction in a multianvil apparams. J. Geophys. Res. 106, 21799—21810. 

CasteUani RJ, Harris PL, Sayre LM, Fujii J, Taniguchi N, Vitek MP, Founds H, Atwood CS, Perry G, Smith MA (2001) Active glycation in neurofibrillary pathology of Alzheimer disease N(epsilon)-(carboxymethyl) lysine and hexitol-lysine. Free Radic Biol Med 31 175-180 CasteUani RJ, Honda K, Zhu X, Cash AD, Nunomura A, Perry G, Smith MA (2004) Contribution of redox-active iron and copper to oxidative damage in Alzheimer disease. Ageing Res Rev 3 319-326... 

Barker L. M. and Hollenbach R. E. (1974) Shock wave smdy of the alpha-epsilon phase transition in iron. J. Appl. Phys. 45, 4872-4887. 

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