Iron Carbide: An Ancient Advanced Material

Abstract

An “easy-to-handle” Fe3C powder constituted of nanoparticles is prepared in a simple, fast and relatively cheap way. The nanoparticles are crystalline, small (d ≈ 8 nm), and superparamagnetic. Despite the absence of any significant coating shell, these nanoparticles are stable against oxidation and can represent a perfect base for the generation of novel ferrofluids. Detailed facts of importance to specialist readers are published as ”Supporting Information”. Such documents are peer-reviewed, but not copy-edited or typeset. They are made available as submitted by the authors. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.