Morphology, mechanism and optical properties of nanometer-sized MgO synthesized via facile wet chemical method

Here we have synthesised MgO nanostructures in two steps by wet chemical method. In the first step we synthesised Mg(OH)2 precursor from Mg(NO3)2.6H2O by dropwise addition of sodium hydroxide with continuous stirring until the pH reached 12. In the second step, MgO nanostructures were obtained by calcining the precursor at 500 and 800 °C. The synthesized MgO nanocrystals have cubic symmetry, a spherical grain-like morphology, size of about 50 nm and an optical band gap value of 5.91 eV. Moreover, the resulting nano-sized MgO exhibits strong blue emission band at about 421 nm (2.94 eV). Here, our current strategy is so simple, economic and suitable for high-yield production of MgO nanostructures that it could be an exceptional choice for potential optoelectronic nanodevices.288