Synthesizing nanocrystal-assembled mesoporous magnesium oxide using cotton fibres as exotemplate

A novel biomorphic nanocrystal-assembled mesoporous (NAM) magnesium oxides have been synthesized via an exotemplating pathway using cotton fibres as template and magnesium acetate as MgO precursor. These mesoporous MgO materials replicate the microtubular or zonal structure of the cotton morphology, and their frameworks are constructed by plenty of uniform MgO nanocrystals, which are different from those of the cotton template and reference MgO prepared by directly thermal-decomposition of MgO precursor. The mesoporous structure with narrow slit-like pores can be formed, if suitably chosen amounts of precursor magnesium acetate are used. These biomorphic NAM MgO materials have high surface areas, exhibit high selectivity in the catalytic decomposition of isopropanol, and display their potential for an effective basic catalyst or support. (C) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.