Synthesis, characterization and catalytic potential of MgNiO2 nanoparticles obtained from a novel [MgNi(opba)]n·9nH2O chain

We describe herein the synthesis of MgNiO2 nanoparticles employing a new one-dimensional system [MgNi(opba)]n·9nH2O, with opba standing for ortho-phenylenebis(oxamato), as precursor. The MgNiO2 nanoparticles could be obtained after heat-treatment at 800 °C for 5 h under air atmosphere, which was responsible for the elimination of water and organic precursor material leading the formation of nanoparticles with average size of 40±9 nm. To this end, we first described the synthesis of [MgNi(opba)]n·9nH2O chain, which was obtained using a pre-synthetized Na2[Ni(opba)]·5H2O and Mg2+ (molar ratio of 1:1) in aqueous media and then this chain was calcined to produce the desired MgNiO2 nanoparticles. The obtained MgNiO2 nanoparticles showed good catalytic performance towards ethanol decomposition achieving 100% of substrate conversion and producing acetaldehyde (56.8%) and hydrogen (24.8%) as the main gaseous products. Also, carbon based structures of great interest for technological applications, carbon nanotubes and onions were formed as valuable byproducts. Thus, we believe that our reported results may inspire the synthesis of catalysts with improved performances for applications in other gas-phase transformations.