Mechanical activation-induced structural changes in a 5Ti + 3Si mixture

A 5Ti + 3Si powder mixture has been studied by X-ray diffraction in order to assess the effect of mechanical activation (MA) time on its structural state. MA for 11 min or a shorter time leads to the degradation of the crystal structure and partial amorphization of titanium and silicon. MA has been shown to produce different structural changes in silicon and titanium. MA reduces the crystallite size of silicon to 300 nm and increases microstress to 700 MPa, whereas the only consequence of the MA of Ti is an increase in microstress to 550 MPa. MA for more than 11 min initiates a solid-state reaction which results in the mechanochemical synthesis of Ti 5 Si 3 .