ABSTRACT
Substance treatment with the high-energy planetary ball mills is among the most efficient methods to produce strongly non-equilibrium states, such as supersaturated solid solutions, nanocrystalline and amorphous phases etc. [1]. The deformation defect generation rate for a solid being milled normally exceeds their thermal relaxation rate. Therefore, the stored defects density and related energy may reach critical values enough to initiate non-equilibrium phase transformations. Consequently, the mechano-chemical reaction mechanisms may greatly differ from the mechanisms of conventional thermal synthesis [1]. A special class of mechano-chemical reactions is represented by the reactions accompanying mechanical milling (MM) of metals in a liquid reaction medium, e.g. in liquid hydrocarbons (LHC). Titanium is a carbide and hydride-forming element; therefore, study of its mechano-chemical interaction with LHC’s is of great interest. The literature data suggest that titanium MM in LHC’s may cause destruction of the LHC’s and saturation of the metal with carbon and hydrogen [2-5]. Most studies concern HCP→FCC phase transformation in titanium, but they do not provide thorough analysis of the kinetics and structural evolution mechanisms in the solid and liquid phases. There are no comparative studies addressing to detailed examination of titanium interacting with various liquid hydrocarbons under high-energy ball milling, or to detection of the role of hydrocarbon chemical structure in this process.
