Aluminum Nitride Synthesis from Nut Shells

Abstract

A method of producing Aluminum Nitride comprising milling nuts into a powder, milling a powder of nanocrystalline Al2O3, mixing, pressing into a pellet, providing nitrogen, heating, and forming AlN. An Aluminum Nitride product from preparing powders of nuts and Al2O3, 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 Al2O3, mixing the powders and thereby forming a homogenous sample powder of agricultural nuts and Al2O3, 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.

What we claim is: 
     
         1 . A method of producing nano-structures of Aluminum Nitride from nut shells comprising:
 milling agricultural nuts into a fine nut powder;   milling nanocrystalline Al 2 O 3  into a powder;   mixing the fine nut powder with the powder of nanocrystalline Al 2 O 3 ;   pressing the fine nut powder and the powder of nanocrystalline Al 2 O 3  into a pellet;   providing a nitrogen atmposphere;   heating the pellet to a temperature of about 1400° C.;   maintaining the temperature of the pellet at about 1400° C.;   cooling the pellet in air to a temperature of about 670° C.;   eliminating the residual carbon; and   forming nano-structures of AlN.   
     
     
         2 . The method of producing nano-structures of Aluminum Nitride from nut shells of  claim 1   wherein the step of maintaining the temperature of the pellet at about 1400° C. comprises an interval of 5-6 hours.   
     
     
         3 . A nano-structured Aluminum Nitride product from nut shells in a pure form and in the wurtzite phase from the steps comprising:
 milling agricultural nuts into a fine nut powder;   milling nanocrystalline Al 2 O 3  into a powder;   mixing the fine nut powder with the powder of nanocrystalline Al 2 O 3 ;   pressing the fine nut powder and the powder of nanocrystalline Al 2 O 3  into a pellet;   providing a nitrogen atmposphere;   heating the pellet to a temperature of about 1400° C.;   maintaining the temperature of the pellet at about 1400° C.;   cooling the pellet in air to a temperature of about 670° C.;   eliminating the residual carbon; and   forming nano-structures of AlN.   
     
     
         4 . A nano-structured Aluminum Nitride product in a pure form and in the wurtzite phase from the steps comprising:
 preparing powders of agricultural nuts using ball milling with a SPEX 8000M including stainless steel milling media;   preparing powders of nanocrystalline Al 2 O 3  using ball milling including stainless steel milling media;   mixing the powders of agricultural nuts and the powders of nanocrystalline Al 2 O 3  using ball milling including stainless steel milling media and thereby forming a homogenous sample powder of agricultural nuts and Al 2 O 3 ;   pressurizing the homogenous sample powder of agricultural nuts and Al 2 O 3  into a disk;   heat treating or pyrolizing the disk in a nitrogen atmosphere; and   reacting the disk and the nitrogen atmosphere and forming AlN;   wherein the AlN is nano-structured AlN and in a pure form and in the wurtzite phase of AlN.   
     
     
         5 . The nano-structured Aluminum Nitride product in a pure form and in the wurtzite phase of  claim 4  wherein the steps further comprise the step of:
 eliminating residual carbon by placing the disk in air after the step of reacting the disk and the nitrogen atmosphere and forming AlN; and 
 wherein the disk is a 1 cm diameter disk with a 2.5-3 mm thickness. 
 
     
     
         6 . The nano-structured Aluminum Nitride product in a pure form and in the wurtzite phase of  claim 4   wherein the step of heat treating or pyrolizing the disk comprises temperatures exceeding 1400° C. for an interval of 5-6 hours in a nitrogen atmosphere; and   wherein the step of eliminating the residual carbon by placing the disk in air involves a temperature of 670° C.   
     
     
         7 . The nano-structured Aluminum Nitride product in a pure form and in the wurtzite phase of  claim 4   wherein the step of heat treating or pyrolizing the disk comprises a conventional furnace; and   wherein the step of pressurizing utilizes a hydraulic press.   
     
     
         8 . The nano-structured Aluminum Nitride product in a pure form and in the wurtzite phase of  claim 4  wherein the steps further comprise the step of:
 using an 18 kW rotating anode generator and a high resolution powder diffractometer to characterize the structure of the AlN using monochromatic CuKα radiation and further using a 514 nm laser line to obtain Raman spectra on an inVia Raman Microscope and scanning at about 15 mW laser power and an integration period of 30 seconds.