Addition of Fe2O3 as oxygen carrier for preparation of nanometer-sized oxide strengthened steels

Nano-structured ferritic alloys, which are prepared almost exclusively via the mechanical alloying of Y2O3, have recently attracted much attention. Our preliminary results show that the usage of Fe2O3 as oxygen source leads to better control of powder properties than Y2O3 and a high density of nanometer-sized oxide particles can be formed by atomic mixing of Y, Ti and O. This may provide a new route with reduced costs and improved reproducibility for industrial production of nanometer-sized oxide strengthened steels.