Modification of the structural and optical properties of commercial ZnO powder by mechanical activation

Mechanical activation was used as a method for modification of the structural and optical properties of commercial ZnO powder. For this purpose zinc oxide powder was mechanically treated by grinding in a high-energy vibro-mill in a continual regime in air up to 300 minutes. Starting and modified ZnO samples were characterized using XRD, BET and TEM measurements. Optical properties of these samples were investigated by Raman and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The color of commercial ZnO powder was white while mechanically activated ZnO powder was dark yellow, indicating the presence of nonstoichiometry. In the Raman spectra of non-activated sample Raman modes of bulk ZnO were observed, while the spectra of modified samples point out structural and stoichiometric changes. The PL spectra of modified samples excited by 325 and 442 nm lines of a He-Cd laser show great difference with respect to the spectra of the original sample. This study confirms that change in the defect structure of the ZnO crystal lattice introduced by mechanical activation affects the optical properties of this material

Electrical properties of mechanically activated zinc oxide

Microstructural properties of a commercial zinc oxide powder were modified by mechanical activation in a high-energy vibro-mill. The obtained powders were dry pressed and sintered at 1100°C for 2 h. The electrical properties of grain boundaries of obtained ZnO ceramics were studied using an ac impedance analyzer. For that purpose, the ac electrical response was measured in the temperature range from 23 to 240°C in order to determine the resistance and capacitance of grain boundaries. The activation energies of conduction were obtained using an Arrhenius equation. Donor densities were calculated from Mott-Schottky measurements. The influence of microstructure, types and concentrations of defects on electrical properties was discussed

The Influence of Tribophysical Activation on Zn2TiO4 Synthesis

Poster presented at the Seventh Yugoslav Materials Research Society Conference - YUCOMAT 2005, Herceg Novi, Crna Gora, September 12-16, 2005

Mechanochemical synthesis of bismuth ferrite

A powder mixture of Bi2O3 and Fe2O3 was mechanically treated in a planetary ball mill in an air from 30 to 720 minutes. It was shown that the mechanochemical formation of BiFeO3 (BFO) phase was initiated after 60 min and its amount increased gradually with increasing milling time. A detailed XRPD structural analysis is realized by Rietveld’s structure refinement method. The resulting lattice parameters, relative phase abundances, crystallite sizes and crystal lattice microstrains were determined as a function of milling time. Microstructural analysis showed a little difference in morphology of obtained powders. The primary particles, irregular in shape and smaller than 400 nm are observed clearly, although they have assembled together to form agglomerates with varying size and morphology. Dense BFO ceramics were prepared by conventional solid-state reaction at the temperature of 810ºC for 1h followed immediately by quenching process. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. III45007: Zero- to Three-Dimensional Nanostructures for Application in Electronics and Renewable Energy Sources: Synthesis, Characterization and Processin

Dilatometer Investigations of Reactive Sintering of Zinc Titanate Ceramics

Poster presented at the The Sixth Yugoslav Materials Research Society Conference - YUCOMAT 2004, Herceg Novi, Crna Gora, September 13-17, 2004

Investigation of zinc stannate synthesis using photoacoustic spectroscopy

Mixtures of ZnO and SnO2 powders, with molar ratio of 2:1, were mechanically activated for 40, 80 and 160 minutes in a planetary ball mill. The resulting powders were compacted into pellets and non-isothermally sintered up to 1200°C with a heating rate of 5°C/min. X-ray diffraction analysis of obtained powders and sintered samples was performed in order to investigate changes of the phase composition. The microstructure of sintered samples was examined by scanning electron microscopy. The photoacoustic phase and amplitude spectra of sintered samples were measured as a function of the laser beam modulating frequency using a transmission detection configuration. Fitting of experimental data enabled determination of photoacoustic properties including thermal diffusivity. Based on the results obtained a correlation between thermal diffusivity and experimental conditions as well the samples microstructure characteristics was discussed.

Novel Meteor Simulation and Observation Techniques that Emerged from Big-Sky-Earth COST Action

The cooperation of scientists in Big-Sky-Earth COST Action creates an emergent group of researchers with relation to meteor science. Selected cases of development of novel approaches and techniques for meteor simulation and observation are presented

Mechanochemical synthesis of bismuth ferrite

A powder mixture of Bi2O3 and Fe2O3 was mechanically treated in a planetary ball mill in an air from 30 to 720 minutes. It was shown that the mechanochemical formation of BiFeO3 (BFO) phase was initiated after 60 min and its amount increased gradually with increasing milling time. A detailed XRPD structural analysis is realized by Rietveld’s structure refinement method. The resulting lattice parameters, relative phase abundances, crystallite sizes and crystal lattice microstrains were determined as a function of milling time. Microstructural analysis showed a little difference in morphology of obtained powders. The primary particles, irregular in shape and smaller than 400 nm are observed clearly, although they have assembled together to form agglomerates with varying size and morphology. Dense BFO ceramics were prepared by conventional solid-state reaction at the temperature of 810ºC for 1h followed immediately by quenching process. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. III45007: Zero- to Three-Dimensional Nanostructures for Application in Electronics and Renewable Energy Sources: Synthesis, Characterization and Processin

Laser doppler velocimetry and confined flows

Finding the mode, in which two component laser Doppler velocimetry can be applied to flows confined in cylindrical tubes or vessels, was the aim of this study. We have identified principle issues that influence the propagation of laser beams in laser Doppler velocimetry system, applied to flow confined in cylindrical tube. Among them, the most important are influences of fluid and wall refractive indices, wall thickness and internal radius ratio and beam intersection angle. In analysis of the degrees of these influences, we have applied mathematical model, based on geometrical optics. The separation of measurement volumes, that measure different velocity components, has been recognized as the main drawback. To overcome this, we propose a lens with dual focal length – primary focal length for the measurement of one velocity component and secondary focal length for the measurement of the other velocity component. We present here the procedure for calculating the optimal value of secondary focal length, depending on experimental set-up parameters. The mathematical simulation of the application of the dual focal length lens, for chosen cases presented here, confirmed the accuracy of the proposed procedure

Mechanochemical synthesis of CaTiO3 from CaCO3 - TiO2 mixture

The synthesis of calcium titanate, CaTiO3, was performed by mechanical activation and thermal treatment. Milling for up to 360 minutes in a planetary ball mill mechanically activated an equimolar mixture of CaCO 3 and TiO2 powders. A small amount of mechanically activated mixtures was pressed into briquettes and calcined at 850°C for two hours. The effect of mechanical activation on the solid-state reaction was studied using X-ray powder diffraction and differential thermal analysis. The change of morphology and size of powder particles due to milling, were determined by SEM, while BET analysis was used to determine the specific surface area of the powder. The sintering process was followed by a dilatometer during thermal treatment up to 1300°C. The main conclusion of the analysis of conducted investigations is that CaTiO3 ceramics can be obtained from an activated mixture at a much lower temperature than reported in the literature owing to acceleration of the chemical reaction and sintering