Synthesis and Characterization of Nanostructured Mg(OH)2 and MgO

Nanocrystalline oxides are of immense interest to scientists due to their enriched surface chemistry and high surface area. Among the metal oxide nanomaterials, magnesium oxide (MgO) is an exceptionally important material and has been extensively used in catalysis, toxic waste remediation, antibacterial materials, paints and superconductor products owing to its unique optical, electronic, magnetic, thermal, mechanical and chemical properties1. In the present work magnesium hydroxide (Mg (OH) 2) nanostructures have been synthesized by the reaction of magnesium nitrate (Mg (NO3) 2) with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) in the presence of ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA) via chemical precipitation method. The magnesium hydroxide sample was annealed at different temperatures to obtain samples of MgO of different grain sizes. The synthesis was carried out with the reaction mixture kept under uniform stirring using a magnetic stirrer. The magnesium hydroxide and magnesium oxide nanostructures were characterized by the method of XRD and FT Raman spectroscopy. The XRD peaks of Mg (OH) 2 obtained are very broad which gives a clear indication of small particle size. MgO samples were obtained by the heat treatment of theMg (OH) 2 samples and as annealing temperature increases, the average grain size of nanocrystalline materials also increases12. The width of the X- ray diffraction pattern indicates the same results. FT Raman spectra of the samples were recorded and interpreted in comparison with the reported spectra of bulk crystals of Mg (OH) 2andMgO.