Mechanosyntesis Features of the Nanodispersed Titanium Diboride

Abstract

Structural and morphological changes of titanium during intensive milling of titanium and boron powder mixtures in a planetary mill AIR-015M have been investigated. It has been shown that the resulting structural transformations in titanium lead to the formation of cluster precipitates (like Guinier-Preston zones) from titanium and boron atoms, which are regularly oriented with respect to the titanium lattice and coherently associated with it. Cluster precipitates are very effective embryos for the further reaction and provide an explosive transition to the almost single-phase titanium diboride. It is found that in the investigated mechanosynthesis conditions, a nanostructured titanium diboride forms in the form of polycrystalline particles of lamellar and voluminous shape, composed of oriented nanograins no larger than 20 nm.