Agglomeration Behavior and Atomistic Mechanism of Cerium Oxide Particles in the Fe–Ce–O–S Melts

Abstract

This article aims to investigate the agglomeration behavior of cerium oxide particles at the interface of high‐temperature melts. The high‐temperature experiment with 0.15% cerium addition is carried out at 1600 °C and the type of cerium oxide is detected to be Ce–O–S particles according to thermodynamic calculation and energy‐dispersive analysis. The attractive force between particles is analyzed by high‐temperature confocal laser scanning microscopy and the Kralchevsky–Paunov model. The in situ observation indicates that the largest acting distance between Ce–O–S particle pairs is measured to be 80 μm. The attractive force becomes weak as the distance between Ce–O–S particle pairs (L) decreases, and a stronger attractive force exists between Ce–O–S particle pairs with a smaller radius ratio (R1/R2). The capillary force for Ce–O–S particles is weaker than that for Ce2O3 particles. The first‐principles results indicate that the wettability at the interface of the Fe/Ce2O3–S system is weaker than the Fe–S/Ce2O3 system, which is in agreement with the in situ observation and Kralchevsky–Paunov model results. Furthermore, the atomistic mechanism of agglomeration behavior is revealed.