An artificially prepared nanocrystalline iron sample with bimodal crystallite size distribution was nitrided and denitrided in the NH3/H2 atmosphere at 350 °C and 400 °C. The sample was a 1:1 mass ratio mixture of two iron samples with mean crystallite sizes of 48 nm and 21 nm. Phase transformations between α-Fe, γ'-Fe4N and ε-Fe3-2N were observed by the in situ X-ray powder diffraction method. At selected steps of nitriding or denitriding, phase transformations paused at 50% of mass conversion and resumed after prominent variation of the nitriding atmosphere. This effect was attributed to the separation of phase transformations occurring between sets of iron crystallites of 48 nm and 21 nm, respectively. This was due to the Gibbs-Thomson effect, which establishes the dependence of phase transformation conditions on crystallite sizes.
Keywords: Gibbs–Thomson effect; bimodal size distribution; iron nitrides; nanocrystalline materials; phase transformations.