Thermal behaviour of mechanochemically synthesized nanocrystalline CuS

Thermal behaviour of mechanochemically synthesized nanocrystalline CuS particles by high-energy milling in an industrial mill has been studied. Structure properties were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction that reveals the formation of copper sulphide CuS as well as of copper sulphate CuSO4·5H2O. Thermal properties of the as-prepared products were studied by the differential scanning calorimetry together with X-ray inspection for detection by pass products formed. The decomposition of the as-prepared sample has been studied too. Thermal stability of the anhydrous CuSO4 formed by the thermal decomposition is lower than the thermal stability of non-milled samples. The final product of the thermal decomposition is metallic copper instead of Cu2O, which is stable up to 1100 °C. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis proved that the percentage of chalcantite in the covellite mechanochemically synthesized by high-energy milling is 48–51%.