Preparation of lamellar magnesium hydroxide nanoparticles via precipitation method

Lamellar magnesium hydroxide (MH) nanoparticles were synthesized via surfactant-free precipitation method using MgCl2 ·6H2O and NaOH as raw materials, urea and ethanol as assistant additives. The products were characterized by XRD, TEM, EDS, FTIR and Raman spectroscopy. It is found that the prepared nanoparticles are almost hexagonal lamellas when ethanol is added into the reaction system, which indicates that ethanol is helpful to regulate the morphology of MH nanoparticles. In addition, high-purity MH nanoparticles can be obtained when urea is employed. Both XRD patterns and EDS analysis suggest that the generation of impurities was prevented by adding urea, particularly, under the condition of high concentration raw materials. The possible purification mechanism is due to the coordination interaction of urea with Mg2+, which can prevent the impurity from generating.

Graphical abstractThe pure magnesium hydroxide (MH) nanoparticles were synthesized by surfactant-free precipitation method with urea as the key reagent. Urea was used to avoid the generation of Mgx(OH)yClz impurities and ethanol is effective in modifying the morphology of prepared products. The key mechanism involving the coordination interaction of urea with Mg2+ was proposed based on the XRD patterns and the EDS analysis.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide