2119.     LIPSON, H., AND PARKER, A. M. B.  Structure of Martensite.  Jour. Iron Steel Inst. (London), vol. 149, 1944, pp. 123-141; Chem. Abs., vol. 38, 1944, p. 1195.

        Martensite may be regarded as a deformed supersaturated solid solution of C in a-Fe formed by very rapid quenching of a solid solution of C in γ-Fe.  It is very reactive, decomposing to cementite and a-Fe at temperatures below 300° and as low as 100°-200°.  The structure is body-centered tetragonal.  Martensite would probably behave like cementite, forming H2 and hydrocarbons with acids and hydrocarbons only with H2.  The method of formation almost certainly precludes any possibility that it is involved in the Fischer-Tropsch reaction.