XRD line profile analysis of calcite powders produced by high energy milling

摘要

Natural calcite crystals were ground to powder by high energy mechanical milling. Depending on the grinding conditions, powders can be pure calcite or calcite-aragonite mix-tures, with a complex equilibrium between the two polymorphs of calcium carbonate. In any case, the mechanical milling is effective in reducing domain size to the nanoscale, introduc-ing large microstrains whose exact nature is not yet totally clear. Domain size distribution and possible sources of microstrain were investigated by XRD line profile analysis, with the support of electron microscopy and BET surface area analysis.