Stoichiometric study of iron sulfide prepared by mechanochemical reaction

In the present study, pure elemental powders of Fe and S were mixed to give the desired compositions of FesoSso. A SPEX 8000D high-energy ball mill was used to synthesize iron sulfide powders under an Ar-filled atmosphere. The prepared powders were examined by conventional X-ray diffractometry and synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The experimental results revealed that mechanochemical reactions occurred during the ball milling process for all the compositions. The FesoSso phase was obtained after ball milling for 20 h. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) results revealed that the nearest neighbor bond lengths of the radial distribution function (RDF) for iron decreased when iron sulfides formed. X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) of S K-edges distinguished better the structural evolution of these iron sulfides.