The influence of mechanical activation on the structure of ZnO

Abstract

In this paper, the authors investigated the influence of mechanicall activation of ZnO powder on crystal and micro structure. Because of its structure, ZnO could be used like filler in polymer ceramics nanocompozites. Performances of these material depend on filler morphology, surfaces, texture and size particle. According to this, ZnO powder was activated in a planetary ball mill for 2, 5, 10 and 30 minutes. Changes in crystal and micro structure were observed by SEM, XRD, Raman spectroscopy and UV-Vis Reflection. SEM micrographs show increase of agglomerates size with prolonged milling time. XRD patterns indicate that the peak intensities getting lower and expand with activation time. UV-Vis reflection shows that there is a clear difference in the spectra with increasing activation time. The results we got by the investigation of dinamical structure by Raman spectroscopy are in corelation with the other results of structures analysis. Results presented here enable further optimisation of the polymer nanocompozite based on ZnO and PVDF making process.