Nanometer-sized carbide formation from blended powders of petroleum coke and element powders by reactive milling

It is first reported for synthesis nanometer-sized carbide powders by using petroleum coke as the carbon source during mechanical alloying. The synthesis procedure involved the milling of two kinds of blended powders: elemental Ti and petroleum coke, and elemental Si and petroleum coke. Structure evolution was monitored by X-ray diffraction, and the particle size of milled powders was measured by BET. Based on experimental results, cubic TiC and hexagonal α-SiC were synthesized by milling the raw particles to the magintude of nanometer. The mechanism of carbide formation was also discussed.