Response to Thermal Exposure of Ball-Milled Aluminum-Borax Powder Blends

Abstract

Aluminum-borax powder mixtures were ball milled and heated above 873 K (600 °C) to produce Al-B master alloys. Ball-milled powder blends reveal interpenetrating layers of deformed aluminum and borax grains that are increasingly refined with increasing milling time. Thermal exposure of the ball-milled powder blends facilitates a series of thermite reactions between these layers. Borax, dehydrated during heating, is reduced by Al, and B thus generated reacts with excess Al to produce AlB2 particles dispersed across the aluminum grains starting at 873 K (600 °C). AlB2 particles start to form along the interface of the aluminum and borax layers. Once nucleated, these particles grow readily to become hexagonal-shaped crystals that traverse the aluminum grains with increasing temperatures as evidenced by the increase in the size as well as in the number of the AlB2 particles. Ball milling for 1 hour suffices to achieve a thermite reaction between borax and aluminum. Ball milling further does not impact the response of the powder blend to thermal exposure. The nucleation-reaction sites are multiplied, however, with increasing milling time and thus insure a higher number of smaller AlB2 particles. The size of the AlB2 platelets may be adjusted with the ball milling time.