A method of producing Aluminum Nitride comprising milling nuts into a powder, milling a powder of nanocrystalline Al.sub.2O.sub.3, mixing, pressing into a pellet, providing nitrogen, heating, and forming AlN. An Aluminum Nitride product from preparing powders of nuts and Al.sub.2O.sub.3, mixing, and forming a powder, pressurizing into a disk, pyrolizing in nitrogen, and forming AlN in a pure form and in the wurtzite phase. An Aluminum Nitride (AlN) from preparing powders of agricultural nuts, preparing powders of nanocrystalline Al.sub.2O.sub.3, mixing the powders and thereby forming a homogenous sample powder of agricultural nuts and Al.sub.2O.sub.3, pressurizing the homogenous sample powder into a disk, heat treating or pyrolizing the disk in a nitrogen atmosphere, reacting the disk and the nitrogen atmosphere and forming AlN, and wherein the AlN is nano-structured AlN and in a pure form and in the wurtzite phase of AlN.

Provided are processes of preventing or eliminating caking of particulate materials during milling operations. Processes include the addition of a milling additive such as a rosin, abietic acid, fatty acid, or derivative of any of the foregoing to a mill prior to or along with a particulate chemical, and milling the combination. The addition of the milling additive prevents or reduces the amount of caking observed thereby increasing yields and maintaining or enhancing the resulting properties of the milled product.

Provided are processes of preventing or eliminating caking of particulate materials during milling operations. Processes include the addition of a milling additive such as a rosin, abietic acid, fatty acid, or derivative of any of the foregoing to a mill prior to or along with a particulate chemical, and milling the combination. The addition of the milling additive prevents or reduces the amount of caking observed thereby increasing yields and maintaining or enhancing the resulting properties of the milled product.

A process for producing a material in the form of nanosheets by ball milling of crystals of the material, wherein the ball milling takes place in the presence of a reactive gas.

A process for producing a material in the form of nanosheets by ball milling of crystals of the material, wherein the ball milling takes place in the presence of a reactive gas.

A ball mill system grinds, disperses, and reacts substances. A ball mill vessel houses grinding bodies (grinding/milling media) and the materials to be ground or dispersed. The ball milling vessel includes an assembly of three component parts with active structural roles to provide a tight and repeatable seal that allows physical, structural and chemical transformations of materials in the presence of a liquid or a gas, while at the same time enabling easy and effortless opening of the jar after ball milling. The ball milling vessel includes two peripheral half-vessels made of a harder material, connected by a central thick ring made of a softer material. The connecting ring provides an active structural role in the ball milling vessel, as it holds together the peripheral halves of the vessel, while at the same time ensuring a tight seal and protecting the joint where the two half-vessels join.

A ball mill system grinds, disperses, and reacts substances. A ball mill vessel houses grinding bodies (grinding/milling media) and the materials to be ground or dispersed. The ball milling vessel includes an assembly of three component parts with active structural roles to provide a tight and repeatable seal that allows physical, structural and chemical transformations of materials in the presence of a liquid or a gas, while at the same time enabling easy and effortless opening of the jar after ball milling. The ball milling vessel includes two peripheral half-vessels made of a harder material, connected by a central thick ring made of a softer material. The connecting ring provides an active structural role in the ball milling vessel, as it holds together the peripheral halves of the vessel, while at the same time ensuring a tight seal and protecting the joint where the two half-vessels join.

A grinding media handling system for a vertical grinding mill comprises: a reservoir; a pump, such as a sump pump or a horizontal pump, for pumping water and/or a slurry of material to be ground from the reservoir via an inlet in an upper section of the vertical grinding mill into a grinding chamber of the mill; means for adding grinding media to the water and/or slurry upstream and/or downstream of the pump; and means for discharging slurry and grinding media from a lower section of the vertical mill.

Methods for millling particles include exposing particles to microwave energy during milling. The methods reduce or eliminate the need for pre- and post-processing of reagents and products while minimizing waste associated with the slow kinetics of heat transfer in traditional resistive heating furnaces. Method of synthesizing particles include providing precursor particles, microwave susceptor media, and milling media in a reaction vessel and simultaneously rotating the reaction vessel while exposing the reaction vessel to microwaves. Apparatus for milling particles include a microwave housing defining a microwave enclosure; a microwave generator configured to generate and direct microwaves to the microwave enclosure; and a rotation shaft within the microwave enclosure, the rotation shaft connected or configured to be connected to a motor for rotation, wherein the rotation shaft is configured to be rotatably coupled, within the microwave enclosure, to a processing vessel.

A large sized opaque quartz glass ingot having an excellent heat ray shielding property, an outstanding light blocking property, high mechanical strength and small roughness of a baked finished smooth surface. The shape of bubbles inside the quartz glass are almost complete spheres and the average particle size of the bubbles is 1 ?m or less, such that the strength of the opaque quartz glass ingot is increased as the stress concentration at the edges of the bubbles is eliminated and an increase of surface roughness caused by baking is alleviated.