MECHANICAL REDUCTION OF CuO BY Mg AT ROOM TEMPERATURE

The mechanical reduction of CuO by pure metallic Mg has been investigated during pulver- izing in ball mill at room temperature.The reduction was towards its completion of an average particle size down to 20 nm after milling for 32 h.The mechanism of the mechanical reduction of oxides seems to be the surface activation of nano-metre sized particles driven by mechani- cal force.