Mechanical milling of fullerene with carbide forming elements

Abstract

Mechanical alloying of Ti, V, Cr, Mo and W with fullerene (C60(C70)) and graphite reveals that fullerene is more reactive than graphite. The formation heat of carbide is the driving force for reaction in the mechanical alloying process. Higher heat of formation results in the direct formation of carbide in Ti-C systems, and the formation of carbide in V-C systems during the subsequent heating of milled powder. In the systemsc with lower carbide heat of formation, a mixture of metal with carbon is obtained by ball milling. No carbide was obtained even after heating the milled powders up to 973 K. Small amount of fullerene remained when milled with Mo and W for 10 hours.