Mechanical alloying of the Pd-Si system in controlled conditions of energy transfer

Understanding the unexpected effect of frequency on the kinetics of a covalent reaction under ball-milling conditions

We here explore how ball-mill-grinding frequency affects the kinetics of a disulfide exchange reaction. Our kinetic data show that the reaction progress is similar at all the frequencies studied (15–30 Hz), including a significant induction time before the nucleation and growth process starts. This indicates that to start the reaction an initial energy accumulation is necessary. Other than mixing, the energy supplied by the mechanical treatment has two effects: (i) reducing the crystal size and (ii) creating defects in the structure. The crystal-breaking process is likely to be dominant at first becoming less important later in the process when the energy supplied is stored at the molecular level as local crystal defects. This accumulation is taken here to be the rate-determining step. We suggest that the local defects accumulate preferentially at or near the crystal surface. Since the total area increases exponentially when the crystal size is reduced by the crystal-breaking process, this can further explain the exponential dependence of the onset time on the milling frequency.

Effects of Ball Milling Processing Conditions and Alloy Components on the Synthesis of Cu-Nb and Cu-Mo Alloys

The effects of processing parameters in ball milling and the different behaviors of Cu-Nb and Cu-Mo alloys during milling were investigated. High powder yields can be obtained by changing the BPR value and ball size distribution and no clear dependence of BPR value on powder yield can be found from the experiment results. The addition of oxygen can largely reduce the effect of excessive cold welding during ball milling. A “two-step” ball milling method was introduced to evaluate the different evolution processes and morphologies in different alloys. With 8 h pre-milling, this method considerably benefits the oxidation process of Mo and shows its promising potential in the synthesis of immiscible alloys. Based on the experiment results and analysis, we suggest that the different behaviors of Cu-Nb and Cu-Mo alloys are related to the shear modules and different tendencies to be oxidized.

Parametric study on the production of the GAGG:Ce and LSO:Ce multicomponent oxide scintillator materials through use of a planetary ball mill

The material presented herein focuses on the exploration of the production of gadolinium aluminum gallium garnet and lutetium oxyorthosilicate doped with cerium (GAGG:Ce and LSO:Ce, respectively) through mechanochemical means. Multiple parameters are explored including mass of starting material, ball size, rotational speed of the mill, number of balls employed, and material used for the milling container. Theoretical calculations were conducted using a pre-established equation and showed that, when all other parameters were held constant, in scenarios where (1) a smaller mass of sample, (2) faster revolutions per minute, (3) greater numbers of balls, or (4) a greater density of the material used for the vials and balls were employed, there should be higher energies imparted to the system. Actual results executed appeared to exhibit somewhat congruent results, but showed limitations due to experimental (non-idealized) conditions.