# Tailor‐Made Vessels for Enhancing the Mechanochemical Energy Transfer and Milling Efficiency

## TL;DR

This paper introduces new 3D-printed vessels for ball mills that improve energy transfer and milling efficiency in mechanochemical reactions.

## Contribution

The study introduces 18 new jar geometries and a novel method using triboluminescence and high-speed footage to assess milling efficiency.

## Key findings

- New jar geometries significantly increased the number of high-energy impacts.
- Some vessels reduced milling time until total light decay.
- The novel setup successfully analyzed energy-rich impacts in different geometries.

## Abstract

Mechanochemistry has gained momentum in organic synthesis. Often, shaker ball mills are used. The geometry of their vessels leads to different action modes, some with high and some with low energy input. These motions interchange chaotically, and new vessels with alternative geometries revealing defined action modes shall lead to a deeper understanding of mechanochemical systems and allow improvements. We designed twenty new jar geometries and 3D printed such vessels using an UV‐resin‐based printer and a translucent polymer. For analyzing the energy‐rich impacts in these new geometries, a setup with triboluminescence in connection with high‐speed footage was introduced. In this manner, the number of hits with enough energy to emit a light reflex was determined. To further investigate the efficiency of the new geometries, time measurements of light decays were conducted. Several vessels showed great improvements in hit counts as well as in milling time reduction until total light decay, confirming the importance of newly designed mechanochemical vessels with tailor‐made geometries enhancing the milling efficiency of mechanochemical systems.

In ball mills, the vessel geometry has a major impact on the milling efficiency. By 3D‐printing, 18 new vessels were introduced, and their ability to direct the milling balls for high‐level energy transfers was investigated by a novel experimental set‐up following the triboluminescent behavior of a copper complex by high‐speed photography.© 2026 WILEY‐VCH GmbH