MECHANOSYNTHESIS OF INTERSTITIAL COMPOUNDS

The present paper reviews the general conditions of the mechanosynthes is of interstitial (primarily C,N) solid solutions and compounds, a sy nthesis technique that offers some good prospect for making new as wel l as known interstitial compounds. It also proposes a description of s ome microscopic mechanisms which take place at a nanometric scale duri ng the mechanosynthesis of such materials. These mechanisms involve di ssociation of gas molecules under impact, ordering disordering induced by impact, lattice relaxation from the stressed to the unstressed sta te and thermal ageing of the product in the reactor.