Facile synthesis and crystal growth dynamics study of MgAl2O4 nanocrystals

•The optimal conditions to synthesize MgAl2O4 nanocrystalline via salt-assisted combustion method were explored.•The synthesis mechanism of MgAl2O4 nanocrystals was discussed.•Crystal growth dynamics during calcinations was studied.

Well-dispersed MgAl2O4 nanocrystalline was prepared by a convenient salt-assistant combustion process using low-toxic glycine as fuel, low-cost Mg(NO3)2·6H2O and Al(NO3)3·9H2O as raw materials. By changing the reaction condition such as glycine dosage, the amount of inert-salt, inert-salt types and calcinations temperature, the optimal conditions to synthesize MgAl2O4 nanocrystalline were explored. The obtained results showed that parameters inert-salt and fuel dosage in the process have an important effect on the structure properties of samples. The obtained products were characterized by XRD and TEM. TEM images revealed that the products were composed of well-dispersed cube-like nanocrystals with the size of 60–80 nm. The synthesis mechanism of MgAl2O4 nanocrystals was discussed. The crystal growth dynamics of MgAl2O4 nanocrystals was studied and the activation energy of MgAl2O4 nanocrystals was 39.1 kJ/mol.

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