Optical properties of nanocrystalline magnesium aluminate spinel synthesized from industrial wastes

•Nanocrystalline magnesium aluminate spinel was successfully produced from the scrap.•The firing temperature was used to produce varieties from nanosize.•The output of this work is very vital because it covers a wide range of applications.•The characterization of this products give a promise optical applications.

In this work, magnesium aluminate spinel (MA) nanoparticles were synthesized via co-precipitation method using industrial wastes of magnesium and aluminum. The obtained powders were calcined at a temperature range of 650–1500 °C. The calcined powders were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, DTA, FE-SEM and HR-TEM. XRD data illustrated that the spinel MA with a crystallite size of ∼3.8 nm was formed at 650 °C. Optical properties of the MA spinel revealed that the optical reflectance is highly dependent on calcination temperature. Photoluminescence analysis revealed intrinsic emission bands with high intensity centered at 390, 370 and 485 nm, when the samples are excited by a 350 nm light from a Xe lamp at room temperature. Results suggest that co-precipitation method of aluminum and magnesium wastes at low temperatures is a promising way for the production of highly pure and active nanocrystalline MA spinel with expected unique properties.

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