MECHANOCHEMICAL SYNTHESIS OF ULTRAFINE FE POWDER

Ultrafine Fe powders were synthesized by mechanochemical solid-state r eduction of FeCl3 by Na and subsequent removal of the reaction by-prod ucts. X-ray diffraction, Mossbauer spectroscopy. and transmission elec tron microscopy measurements showed that Fe particles with a relativel y uniform particle size similar to 10 nm were formed during the mechan ical milling process. The powders exhibited coercivity values of 350-5 50 Oe, consistent with that expected for separated nanosized particles . This study demonstrates that mechanochemical processing has signific ant potential for the synthesis of ultrafine metal powders in an econo mic and efficient way. (C) 1995 American Institute of Physics.