D. Sumanth Kumar, ... H.M. Mahesh, in Synthesis of Inorganic Nanomaterials, 2018 3.6.1.1 Ball Milling. A ball mill is a type of grinder used to grind and blend bulk material into QDs/nanosize using different sized balls. The working principle is simple; impact and attrition size reduction take place as the ball drops from near the top of a rotating hollow cylindrical shell.