title: Mechanochemical route to the synthesis of nanostructured Aluminium nitride.
abstract: Hexagonal Aluminium nitride (h-AlN) is an important wide-bandgap semiconductor material which is conventionally fabricated by high temperature carbothermal reduction of alumina under toxic ammonia atmosphere. Here we report a simple, low cost and potentially scalable mechanochemical procedure for the green synthesis of nanostructured h-AlN from a powder mixture of Aluminium and melamine precursors. A combination of experimental and theoretical techniques has been employed to provide comprehensive mechanistic insights on the reactivity of melamine, solid state metal-organic interactions and the structural transformation of Al to h-AlN under non-equilibrium ball milling conditions. The results reveal that melamine is adsorbed through the amine groups on the Aluminium surface due to the long-range van der Waals forces. The high energy provided by milling leads to the deammoniation of melamine at the initial stages followed by the polymerization and formation of a carbon nitride network, by the decomposition of the amine groups and, finally, by the subsequent diffusion of nitrogen into the Aluminium structure to form h-AlN.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Engineering, Birjand University of Technology, Birjand, Iran.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Rounaghi
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, 91775-1436 Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Eshghi
authors.affiliation: Institute for Complex Materials, IFW Dresden, Helmholtzstraße 20, D-01069 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Scudino
authors.affiliation: Institut für Experimentelle Physik, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Leipziger Str. 23, 09596 Freiberg, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vyalikh
authors.affiliation: Institute for Materials Research (IMO), Hasselt University, Wetenschapspark 1, 3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium.
authors.forename: D E P
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Vanpoucke
authors.affiliation: Institute for Complex Materials, IFW Dresden, Helmholtzstraße 20, D-01069 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gruner
authors.affiliation: Institute for Complex Materials, IFW Dresden, Helmholtzstraße 20, D-01069 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Oswald
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Engineering, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, 91775-1111, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Kiani Rashid
authors.affiliation: Institute for Complex Materials, IFW Dresden, Helmholtzstraße 20, D-01069 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Samadi Khoshkhoo
authors.affiliation: Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V., Hohe Str. 6, 01069 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Scheler
authors.affiliation: Erich Schmid Institute of Materials Science, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Jahnstraße 12, A-8700 Leoben, Austria.|Department Materials Physics, Montanuniversität Leoben, Jahnstraße 12, A-8700 Leoben, Austria.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Eckert