Radiation Induced Reduction of Fe3O4

[Samson4]

I'm doing a little experiment on reducing iron oxide back to bare iron. I'm going to use a blued rod, coconut oil and ultraviolet light.

Im using coconut oil because information from this site suggests that it is very transparent to uv light. https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jspec/2013/540417/

I'm using uv light so that the bare metal layer created is very superficial. It also should allow me to prevent rusting because the fresh surface will still be oiled until I can get it in an oxygen free environment. I've reduced graphite oxide to graphite with uv light but never a metal.

Does this sound feasible? Are there commercial processes that are easily researched that would be more applicable to my needs?

 

[Cloud Variable]

Put the metal in a beaker? You get a material that is a strong acid, and then you stir it up a bunch until the oxygen is ripped from the iron and makes a solution with the acid. Add some oil or some petroleum jelly (Vaseline) after the reaction is done and it should be all right for a while. Be really careful because if you use nitric, sulfuric, hydrochloric, or citric acid it might produce fumes. If you treat the acid with ammonia after the reaction it will help neutralize the substance so the iron will not dissolve that much itself. When you are done, you can safely pour the mixture down the sink. In fact, the ammonia and the acids are commonly sold as drain cleaners. The only effects are positive. If you want to keep the Vaseline, go ahead, but you can quickly rub it all around the metal and it will form a very thin invisible oxide-proof layer. I would recommend puttting it in a clear airtight container and just in case you want to you can put a tiny lump of an alkali metal (preferably lithium) in with it and it will drop the oxygen level to a very low concentration.