Mechanochemical synthesis of Mo–Cu nanocomposite powders

Mo–Cu nanocomposite powders were successfully synthesized by the mechanochemical (high energy ball-milling) and hydrogen-reduction process at low temperature (650 °C). MoO3 and CuO powders were used as precursors, which were calcined in air atmosphere to get CuMoO4–MoO3 mixtures. The mechanochemical treatment of the CuMoO4–MoO3 powder mixtures caused a substantial increase of both the reduction activity of powder mixtures in hydrogen and the refinement of powders. It was accompanied by a transformation from CuMoO4 to Cu3Mo2O9, playing a critical role in hydrogen reduction process. By optimizing the experimental parameters, Mo–30 wt.% Cu nanocomposite powders with superfine particles with size ranging from 100 to 200 nm could be successfully obtained by mechanochemical-reduction method.