Grinding kinetics of nano-sized particles for different electrostatic stabilizing acids in a stirred media mill

Besides the direct syntheses of nanoparticles via pyrolysis, sol gel or precipitation processes, wet grinding in stirred media mills is suitable for producing nanoparticles. Important requirements for nanomilling processes are low grinding media wear on the one hand and an against reagglomeration stabilized suspension on the other hand. For process design and optimization the prediction of grinding kinetics enables the comparison of the energy efficiency of grinding processes at different operating parameters and for different stabilizing additives. In this study the grinding kinetics of fused corundum in a stirred media mill was investigated using different acids as electrostatic stabilizing additives in distilled water. Based on the results a kinetic model, which was developed for dispersion processes and is based on the stress intensity and the stress frequency acting in the stirred media was enhanced regarding the product stability. The results of the grinding experiments using different stabilizing acids are transferable to the parameters of the enhanced grinding kinetics and the calculated particle-particle interaction potential. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.