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Abstract
It is proposed that cementite owes its stability, relative to other iron carbides, to its crystal structure, which enables its carbon atoms to form extra covalent bonds with iron atom neighbours. An analysis based on tight binding theory suggests that cementite has an advantage of nearly 0·5 eV per Fe3C unit over an alternative Fe3C carbide having a close packed (fcc or hcp) metal sublattice. Other suggested carbides of various compositions, and having the same metallic sublattice, are also shown to be less stable than cementite.
MST/1772
