Hydraulic opposed jet mill

A hydraulic jet mill for reducing the size of a flake shaped material to nano size or less while maintaining or increasing the aspect ratio of the material where the aspect ratio is the ratio of the average width of a particle of the material to the average thickness of such particle comprising:

• (1) a jet having a forward end and a rearward end and having an open orifice at the forward end;
• (2) means for introducing a slurry of the material and an incompressible liquid into the jet at a point rearward of the orifice and under sufficient pressure that the slurry exits said orifice at at least ten meters per second;
• and
• (3) an impingement plate located forward of said orifice at a distance of less than one millimeter from said orifice and such that the slurry strikes the impingement plate upon leaving said orifice;
• whereby a slurry of a flake shaped material and an incompressible liquid may be introduced into said jet under pressure and the slurry exits said orifice in said plate and strikes said impingement plate and a significant portion of the material is reduced in size to nano sized or less while maintaining or increasing the aspect ratio of the material.