Low temperature synthesis of Al-AlN composites from a nanostructure made by controlled magneto-ball milling of Al in ammonia

The formation of an AlN compound in ball milled Al powder in ammonia was studied. In this work a magneto‐ball milling device with controlled ball movement was used. The end milling product was an Al based nanostructure. This product can be transformed into an AlN‐Al nanocomposite upon heating below the melting point of Al. It was found that the level of unreacted Al is dependent on milling time. The maximum amount of AlN was 88.28 wt %. The structure of as‐milled and annealed samples was investigated using x‐ray diffractometry and transmission electron microscopy. Differential thermal analysis was performed on as‐milled samples.