Comparative study of SPEX and planetary milling methods for the fabrication of complex metallic alloy nanoparticles

Abstract

The objective of the present work is the comparison of two common milling methods for the production of complex metallic alloy nanoparticles. γ-Al12Mg17 nanoparticles were fabricated using both a planetary ball mill and a SPEX mill. The produced nanoparticles have been compared on the basis of the phase and microstructural characterisations by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), respectively. The crystallite size, lattice strain, and lattice parameter have been calculated from the XRD data followed by an investigation on the powder morphology and particle size by FESEM. It has been indicated that the higher milling speed in the SPEX milling method leads to a higher milling energy and consequently lower particle size. For the same milling time of 2 h, the particle size decreases down to nano-scale using a SPEX ball mill whereas the planetary ball mill products contained a varied size in the range of micron and submicron regimes. Furthermore, the results showed approximate crystalline sizes of 12 and 85 nm for the Al12Mg17 in SPEX and planetary ball mills after 2 h of milling time, respectively.