Magnesium oxide nanostructures: synthesis, characterizationand environmental application

Abstract

In this work we have reported the synthesis of nanostructured MgO of different morphologies by wet chemical methods such as hydrothermal, reflux and co-precipitation method. The synthesized MgO nanomaterials were characterized by using FTIR, XRD, FE-SEM and EDAX analytical techniques in order to evaluate the formation, crystalline phase morphologies, microstructures and chemical compositions . The XRD results reveal the well crystalline nature of the prepared compounds. From the FE-SEM images, it is observed the formation of MgO nanoflakes by hydrothermal method, nanorods by precipitation method and hierarchical structure by reflux method. The prepared MgO nanomaterials were used as adsorbents for removal of organic dyes such as Malachite green (MG) and Congo red (CR) from aqueous solutions. It is observed from the adsorption experiments that t he hierarchical MgO nanostructures are excellent adsorbents for decontamination of both MG and CR dyes as compared to other MgO nanostructures. Hence, the MgO hierarchical nanostructure may be considered as an efficient adsorbent for removal of MG and CR dye from waste water.