Planetary Ball Mill, Small Laboratory Dry And Wet Dual-purpose Planetary Ball Mill, Agate Grinding Jar
This machine is a small, versatile planetary ball mill designed for both dry and wet grinding operations in a laboratory setting. When equipped with an agate grinding jar, it becomes an essential tool for preparing ultra-fine, contamination-sensitive samples across various scientific disciplines.
Core Components & Their Significance
1. The Agate Grinding Jar (The Key to Purity)
Material: Agate is a natural form of Silicon Dioxide (SiO₂), closely related to quartz. It is meticulously processed and sintered to create a dense, hard, and incredibly smooth grinding medium.
Why Agate is Chosen:
- Extreme Hardness & Wear Resistance: With a Mohs hardness of 6.5-7, it is harder than most common materials, ensuring minimal wear during grinding.
- Excellent Chemical Inertness: Agate is highly resistant to acids and solvents (except Hydrofluoric acid).
- Smooth, Non-porous Surface: The polished surface prevents particles from embedding in the jar walls.
Ideal For:
Grinding hard, abrasive materials where even trace metal contamination would ruin the analysis. Examples include geological samples for XRD/XRF, ceramic precursors, semiconductor materials, and pharmaceutical actives.
2. Dry and Wet Dual-Purpose Capability
This is a critical feature that dramatically expands the mill's application range.
Dry Grinding:
- Process: The sample is loaded into the agate jar in a dry, powdered form along with the grinding balls.
- Advantages: Simpler setup, no need for solvents, easier post-grinding handling and drying.
- Disadvantages: Can generate more heat due to friction.
Best For:
Materials that are not heat-sensitive and where the introduction of a solvent is undesirable.
Wet Grinding:
- Process: A liquid medium is added to the dry powder and balls.
- Advantages: Prevents caking, cools the sample, and allows for finer particle size.
Best For:
Achieving sub-micron or nano-scale dispersions, grinding ductile metals, and processing temperature-sensitive samples.
3. Small Laboratory Planetary Ball Mill Mechanism
Principle: The agate jar is secured on a rotating disk (sun wheel). It simultaneously revolves at high speed around a central axis and rotates around its own axis in the opposite direction.
Result: This planetary motion generates powerful Coriolis forces, efficiently pulverizing the sample.
Technical Specifications
| Feature |
Specification |
| Model Type |
Small Laboratory, Benchtop |
| Grinding Modes |
Dry and Wet (Dual-Purpose) |
| Typical Jar Volume |
50 mL, 100 mL, 250 mL, 500 mL |
| Jar & Ball Material |
Agate (other materials like SS, ZrO₂ are also compatible) |
| Number of Jars |
Typically 2 or 4 |
| Final Fineness |
< 1 µm (can be nano-scale with optimized conditions) |
| Speed Control |
Digital, Programmable (e.g., 100 - 800 rpm) |
| Control System |
Programmable for time, speed, and run/pause cycles |
Typical Applications with an Agate Jar
- Geology & Mining: Preparing pristine soil and rock samples for accurate XRF and XRD without metal contamination.
- Ceramics & Glass: Grinding raw materials and precursors for advanced ceramics where iron contamination must be avoided.
- Pharmaceutical Research: Size reduction of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for bioavailability studies.
- Archaeology: Contamination-free grinding of ancient artifacts for compositional analysis.
- Electronics: Preparing high-purity ceramic powders for capacitors, sensors, and other electronic components.
- Pigments & Dyes: Fine grinding to develop consistent, high-quality colors without introducing impurities.
Operational Advantages Summary
- Maximum Purity: The agate jar ensures your sample remains uncontaminated by the grinding process.
- Unmatched Versatility: The dry and wet dual-purpose design allows you to process a vast range of materials.
- High Efficiency: The planetary mechanism provides the high energy necessary for rapid nano-scale grinding.
- Precision and Reproducibility: Programmable controls guarantee that every experiment is repeatable.
- Compact Footprint: The small laboratory size makes it ideal for any lab bench.
