Mechanochemically activated synthesis of zirconium carbide nanoparticles at room temperature: A simple route to prepare nanoparticles of transition metal carbides

Mechanically activated syntheses of zirconium carbides (ZrCx) nanoparticles have been performed via ball milling of Zr powder with toluene. It has been found that the milling time can be used to tune the ratio x of C to Zr. The spark plasma sintering of the ZrCx nanoparticles has shown that the densification can be achieved at a considerably reduced temperature of 1200 °C. This ball milling procedure has been tried to successfully synthesize the nanoparticles of WCx, TiCx, and NbCx, demonstrating that it is a potential route to prepare the nanoparticles of transition metal carbides.