Characterization of Cu-nio Nano-composite Powder Prepared by Ball Milling Assisted Solid-state Reaction

In this paper, the possibility of production of Cu-NiO nano-composite powder using mechanochemical reaction was studied. Cu-NiO nano-composite powder was produced by high energy ball milling of CuO and Ni powder mixture. Structural and morphological evolutions were characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. Particular attention has been paid to the reaction mechanism. The reaction was initiated after about 1.5 h and with continuing of milling up to 5 h, NiO was formed completely in the nanocrystalline Cu matrix. It was found that, the crystallite size of Cu in the final product were 92 nm. Formation of Cu2O and Cu(Ni) solid solution, as intermediate phases, have been observed during the reaction. Furthermore, ultrafine Cu-NiO composite powder had relatively agglomerated structure.