“What makes every work perfect is cooking and grinding”: the ancient roots of mechanochemistry

This paper explores the historical significance of milling in various technological areas from ancient times, emphasizing its role beyond the simple ingredient reduction. The study focuses on sources from the 1st to the 10th centuries: philologists selected, studied, and translated ancient sources, while chemists provided chemical interpretations by replicating the recipes in the laboratory. The study delves into the synthesis of cinnabar from mercury and sulphur, or mineral ores such as orpiment, realgar, and stibnite. While the mercury–sulphur reaction is known, the synthesis from sulphide ores is not reported in the literature. Chemical replication assessed the reactions' feasibility and confirmed the fundamental role of grinding for the yield of the reaction, which was already recognized by the alchemist Zosimus of Panopolis (3rd–4th cent. CE) who claimed “what makes every work perfect is cooking and griding”

Novel Mechanically Assisted Dissolution of Platinum Using Cerium(IV) Oxide

Platinum group metals (PGMs) are important for a variety of applications, including catalysis; however, the amounts mined are inadequate relative to global requirements. Therefore, methods for the recovery of PGMs from spent resources are urgently required. Herein, we report that platinum (Pt) can be dissolved by hydrochloric acid (HCl) alone using cerium(IV) oxide (CeO2) as a solid oxidizing agent, which can minimize the highly corrosive chlorine. Pt-containing catalysts were subjected to high-energy ball milling in the presence of CeO2, and their dissolution behavior in HCl was subsequently investigated. Ball milling was found to promote direct Pt-oxidation, as indicated by the significantly increased solubility in HCl. Several analytical techniques, including X-ray diffractometry, surface area and pore size analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and atomic emission spectroscopy, were used for characterization. This study demonstrates the environmentally acceptable characteristics of high-energy ball milling and its applicability in the recycling of important noble metal substances from waste materials