“…While it remains unclear if carbon oxidation takes place at the metal-oxide interface, in the oxide scale or at the oxide-gas interface, elemental carbon or the gaseous carbon oxide resulting from carbon oxidation has to diffuse through the oxide scale for decarburization to keep proceeding. This phenomenon has been observed above 700°C for low-Si cast-iron [13] and above 800°C for Hi-Si SGI [14], and its rate increases with temperature. The interaction between oxidation and decarburisation are two-fold: on the one hand, decarburisation affects the oxide morphology and the oxidation rate, as reported by Lekakh et al [10,11]; on the other hand, the formation of oxides could limit the decarburisation rate assuming that Si-rich oxides also act as an effective diffusion barrier for carbon.…”