Cryomilling as environmentally friendly synthesis route to prepare nanomaterials

Abstract

The milling of materials at cryogenic temperature has gained importance both in academic as well as the industrial community in the last two decades, primarily because of significant advantages this technique as compared to milling at room temperature; environmental friendly nature, cost-effectiveness, rapid grain refinement, less contamination, and large scale production capability of various nanomaterials. Scientifically, milling at cryo-temperature exhibits several distinct material related phenomena; suppression of recovery and recrystallization, predominant fractures over cold welding, significantly low oxidation, and contamination, leading to rapid grain refinement. Cryomilling has extensively been used to obtain finer scale powder of spices for the preservation of aroma, medicines for effective dissolution, or amorphization. It has been considered an environmentally friendly process as it utilizes benign liquid nitrogen or argon without discharging any toxic entity to the environment, making the process attractive and sustainable. The present review is intended to provide various scientific as well as technological aspects of cryomilling, environmental impact, and future direction.

Choosing the right strategy: cryogrinding vs. ball milling – comparing apples to apples

“…In relation to Green Chemistry process, relatively recent article 73 evaluated technological aspects of cryomilling such as its environmental impact, scale-up potential, and potential applications. It has been shown that from the point of Green Chemistry principles, the cryomilling is an eco-friendly process, and that the large-scale cryogrinding can be utilized in different applications, especially those that involve temperature-sensitive materials (i.e., drug delivery vehicles, matrices loaded with pesticides, etc.).…”

Influence of Cryomilling on Crystallite Size of Aluminum Powder and Spark Plasma Sintered Component

“…The only by-product of the process is nitrogen gas which can be directly released into the air, causing no harm to the environment. The presence of a cryogenic environment also prevents the recovery and recrystallization of refined grains [ 25 ]. This ultimately provides a superior crystallite size reduction and significant grain refinement compared to other NC material synthesis methods.…”

Effect of Length of Cellulose Nanofibers on Mechanical Reinforcement of Polyvinyl Alcohol

“…The fibers are dispersed at nanoscale, thus, a significantly less filler fraction is needed as compared to the conventional reinforcing materials, while the properties of composites are markedly improved [ 11 , 12 ]. To minimize the environmental health and safety concerns, the sustainable and environmentally friendly development of nanomaterials is highly desired [ 13 , 14 ]. One of the most promising strategies for the sustainable development involving nanotechnology is the isolation of nanomaterials from low-cost, abundant, renewable and biodegradable resources [ 15 ].…”