Chemistry Letters, Vol.37, No.2, 204-205, 2008
Reduction of indium(III) oxide to indium through mechanochemical route
A nonthermal reduction of indium(III) oxide (In2O3) to metallic indium (In) was achieved through mechanochemical route in this work. A mixture of In2O3 and lithium nitride (Li3N) under ammonia (NH3) and/or nitrogen (N-2) gas environments was milled in a planetary ball mill with uni-size ZrO2 balls to induce mechanochemical reaction between the starting materials. Metallic indium was obtained after milling for 120 min, and the results are confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Washing of the milled product with water to remove by-products using the planetary ball mill for a further 10 min resulted in formation of pellets which were analyzed by EPMA, results clearly show that high purity indium metal was obtained.