Thermal Processes During Mechanical Treatment of ZnO and ZnO-TiO2 Powders and their Role in the Formation of Defect Structure

We used electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) to determine the dependence of the defect structure of zinc oxide powders on the physical characteristics of admixed particles during prolonged mechanical treatment (MT). Our results demonstrate a sequential two-stage thermal process contributing to the defect structure during MT. In the first stage of MT a collective break-up process of individual ZnO particles occurs and the defects are caused by hyper-rapid thermal defects annealing (HRTDA) of the particles. The second stage of defect formation is associated with annealing effects caused by heat accumulation.