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Iron(III) sulfide

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Formula
  
Fe2S3

Density
  
4.3 g/cm³

Molar mass
  
207.9 g/mol

Appearance
  
yellow-green

Iron(III) sulfide wwwchemteaminfoNomenclatureStockNametoFormEx

Correct formula iron iii sulfide 28


Iron(III) sulfide, also known as ferric sulfide or sesquisulfide, is one of the three iron sulfides besides FeS and FeS2. It is a solid, black powder but decays at ambient temperature into a yellow-green powder.

Contents

This is a relatively unstable artificial product that does not occur in nature.

Sources

Fe2S3 is prepared by addition of refrigerated iron(III) chloride solution to also cooled sodium sulfide solution.

2 FeCl3 + 3 Na2S → Fe2S3↓ + 6 NaCl

It is also produced as a side-product of desulfurization of fuel gasses. The gas is pumped through a container of hydrated iron(III) oxide, which combines with hydrogen sulfide.

Fe
2O
3(s) + H
2O(l) + 3 H
2S(g) → Fe
2S
3(s) + 4 H
2O(l)

Reactions

Iron(III) sulfide decays at a temperature over 20°C into FeS and sulphur.

Fe2S3 → 2 FeS + S↓

With hydrochloric acid it decays according to the following reaction equation:

Fe2S3 + 4 HCl → 2 FeCl2 + 2 H2S↑ + S↓

References

Iron(III) sulfide Wikipedia
(Text) CC BY-SA