Unlocking the potential of ball milling for nanomaterial Synthesis: An overview

• Emphasizing on ball milling as transformative approach in material synthesis and advancing technology. • Ball milling is a sustainable technique that reduces energy use and environmental impact, supporting green chemistry. • Investigating how milling types and parameters influance materials' physical and chemical properties. • Ball milling enables the synthesis of diverse materials including MOFs, COFs, nanoceramics and carbon nanomaterials. • The scalability and sustainability of ball milling for industy, future material synthesis and research development. The rapid advancement of nanotechnology has accelerated the development of innovative materials with exceptional properties and applications. In this context, the mechanochemical methods, specifically, ball milling, has emerged as a versatile technique for synthesizing and modifying various nanomaterials like organic, inorganic and hybrid compounds. In ball milling, the need of solvents is eliminated which reduces the energy consumption compared to traditional methods, thus, making it a popular technique in green chemistry. Our overview emphasizes the significance and impact of mechanochemical fabrication of nanomaterials via ball milling. We investigate the milling types, milling variables, and how they impact the chemical and physical properties of the nanomaterials. Herein, we explore the production of up-to-date nanomaterials including nanocelluloses, polymer nanocomposites, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), covalent–organic frameworks (COFs), metal-oxide nanomaterials, carbon-based nanomaterials, nanoceramics and nanoclays, and others by summarizing the recent research articles related to these materials. We also discuss the benefits of ball milling such as the scalability and sustainability. This work highlights the prospects of ball milling technique offering insights that could broaden the horizons of potential research endeavours.