Kinetics and mechanism of the reaction between nickel and sulfur vapors were investigated in the temperature range 480~176 under atmospheric pressure. The sulfurization of nickel has been found to follow, under these conditions, the parabolic rate law. The activation energy of this process amounts to 22 kcal/mole. The examination of x-ray patterns of the scale formed on the surface of the metal has demonstrated that this scale layer is composed almost entirely of NiS. Morphologic investigations show that the scale is composed of two distinct layers. The outer layer, constituting the main part of the whole scale, is compact, polycrystalline, and exhibits an ordered growth texture. The inner layer is porous and does not exhibit any growth texture. The investigations carried out with the aid of the radioactive sulfur isotope *~S have demonstrated that the sulfide scale on nickel is formed exclusively by the outward diffusion of the metal.The confrontation of experimental data with the results obtained by Dravnieks (1) leads to the assumption that the mechanism of the sulfide scale formation on nickel does not depend on the state of aggregation of the oxidizing medium. (2) have demonstrated that the sulfurization of nickel in molten sulfur in the temperature range 205o-445 ~ follows the parabolic rate law. On the other hand Hauffe and Rahmel (3), as well as Pfeiffer (4), stated that if the reaction was carried out in sulfur vapor at 630 ~ under a pressure not exceeding 1 mm Hg the course of the reaction could be described with a linear rate law.
Dravnieks (1) and Wagner and Lichter