Nano-Composites and Mechanical Alloying Via the Ball Milling Technique

Abstract

The ball milling technique has been utilized to produce nano-composites and to ascertain the fundamental parameters of the mechanochemical reaction and the mechanical alloying process. This is an innovative method of material synthesis and metallic coating that, compared to the current methods, is very costeffective and environmentally friendly, although it has not been thoroughly analyzed. There are some general understandings of mechanical alloying, founded on the basic thermodynamics of the reaction, that have been widely accepted. These include heat energy generated by both the collisions between steel balls and the walls of the container and also between the balls themselves, heat transfer by the walls of the container, and heat absorbed by the layer of powder caught between the colliding surfaces. There are many fundamental parameters that require further study. Some parameters that have been investigated here include time of ignition or time of mechanchemical reaction; temperature change; and change of ignition time with respect to mass and number of steel balls, as well as with respect to powder mass. These theoretical parameters have been investigated and confirmed through experimental data. Knowledge of the fundamental parameters in turn helps the understanding of the ball milling process.