A low temperature mechanochemical synthesis and characterization of amorphous Ni-B ultrafine nanoparticles

A novel method for the synthesis of amorphous Ni-B nanoparticles has been developed using a mechanochemical displacement reaction by high energy ball milling. Based on various characterizations including XRD, ICP, BET, DSC, SEM, TEM and XPS, the synthesized Ni-B amorphous nanoparticles are present in the form of uniform and homogeneously distributed ultrafine nanoparticles with the size around 5 nm. Larger specific surface area and higher thermal stability can be obtained by such mechanochemical method than the conventional wet-chemical reduction method. The present work provides a novel method for preparation of other amorphous nanoparticles, and greatly expands the industrial application space of Ni-B amorphous nanoparticles.