A novel synthetic route for magnesium aluminate (MgAl2O4) nanoparticles using sol-gel auto combustion method and their photocatalytic properties

In this paper a novel and inexpensive route for the preparation of spinel magnesium aluminate nanopartides (MgAl2O4) is proposed. Magnesium aluminate photocatalyst was synthesized via sol-gel auto combustion method using oxalic acid, urea, and citric acid fuels at 350 degrees C. Subsequently, the burnt samples were calcined at different temperatures. The pure spinel MgAl2O4 with average crystallite size 27.7, 14.6 and 15.65 nm was obtained at 800 degrees C calcinations using the aforementioned fuels, respectively. The obtained samples were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared, UV-Vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscope, scanning electron microscope. The photo catalytic activity of MgAl2O4 product was studied by performing the decomposition of Reactive Red Me 4BL dye under UV illumination or sunlight irradiation. The dye considerably photocatalytically degraded by 90.0% and 95.45% under UV and sunlight irradiation, respectively, within ca. 5 h with pseudo first order rate constants of 5.85 x 10(-3) and 838 x 10(-3) min(-1), respectively. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).