Preparation of MgO nanomaterials by microemulsion-based oil/water interface precipitation

This paper presented a novel microemulsion-based method for the preparation of MgO nanomaterials. Briefly, in a paraffin-in-water microemulsion system, we firstly synthesized Mg-5(CO3)(4)(OH)(2)center dot 4H(2)O/paraffin composites, the precursor of MgO, via an interface-controlled homogenous precipitation. By calcinating the composite precursor at different temperatures, MgO nanomaterials with varied morphologies could be obtained. A flower-like 3D hierarchical structure was achieved when applying lower calcination temperatures, which indeed preserves the morphology of the composite precursor. While at higher calcination temperatures, one can get the well-defined MgO nanoparticles. The prepared materials were thoroughly characterized by XRD, SEM and BET methods, and their application as adsorbents to remove Congo red from wastewater was demonstrated. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.