Synthesis of mesoporous MgO nanostructures using mixed surfactants template for enhanced adsorption and antimicrobial activity

Mesoporous MgO nanostructures with the high specific surface area (180 m2 g−1) were synthesized via mixed surfactant-templating method. The synthesis of MgO with mixed surfactants system has rarely been discussed in the literature, which motivates us to synthesize MgO in this system. Alteration in catanionic surfactant molar ratio and chain length resulted in a change in surface area. Morphological and physical properties were analyzed using FESEM, HRTEM, FTIR and XRD. Synthesized MgO nanorods showed excellent adsorption properties for dye removal from aqueous solution. The obtained adsorption capacities were 333.33, 250 and 200 mg g−1 for Methylene Blue (MB), Alizarin red (AZ) and Rhodamine B (RD), respectively, which is higher or comparable with other reported methods in literature. Other than adsorption, MgO can act as a good bactericide. The effective antimicrobial activity of MgO was analyzed via minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) method against E. coli and B. subtilis and obtained IC50 (half maximal inhibitory concentration) values after 24 h were 71.98 ± 0.03 and 94.01 ± 0.030 respectively.