Mechanochemical Grinding of Inorganic Oxides

A great deal of experimental data on the mechanochemical treatment of inorganic oxides and mixtures thereof falls into the simple scheme involving the concurrent manifestation of grinding, particle aggregation, and primary crystallite coalescence, respectively. The properties of resulting powders proved to be determined by the position of dynamic equilibrium among the processes taking place. Exerting an influence on the course of one or several processes makes it possible to shift the position of equilibrium and thus to obtain powders with different extents of aggregation, different particle sizes and size distribution curves, or to carry out the treatment under conditions favorable for mechanochemical synthesis. As a result, a weakly agglomerated 15-nm α-Al2O3 powder was prepared in one case, and either yttrium or calcium-stabilized zirconia formed directly in the mill in the other case.