Effects of rotation speed and media density on particle size distribution and structure of ground calcium carbonate in a planetary ball mill

• Increasing revolution speed is not conducive to obtaining a finer product.
• Improving the media density is beneficial to obtain smaller particle size.
• The smallest average particle size was found to be 94 nm at 36 min.
• The stability of crystal planes of GCC were obtained based on XRD analysis.
• There are two kinds of agglomerates formed during the grinding process.

Ultrafine ground calcium carbonate (GCC) produced by carbonate minerals is a widely used inorganic powder material. In order to get a finer GCC powder with narrow distribution span, effects of rotation speed and media density on particle size distribution and structure of GCC were studied. The grinding limit-particle size and distribution of GCC were measured by centrifugal sedimentation granulometer. The specific surface area, average particle size and structure of ground GCC were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and BET. The morphology of particles was observed by a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The result shows that low rotation speed and high-density media are conducive to obtaining a smaller particle with narrower size distribution. The crystal plane (0 1 2) and (1 2 2) of GCC are more stable than (0 1 8) and (2 0 2).

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