Monoclinic hydromagnesite (Mg5(CO3) 4·(OH)2·4H2O) flower-like structures of 2-3 μm diameter have been synthesized at room temperature by a simple precipitation method without using any template, catalyst, or surfactant. The as-synthesized flowers were further calcined at various temperatures to prepare monodispersed, nanofibrous MgO microtubes of aspect ratio ∼15. Both the precursor flowers and the MgO microtubes formed were characterized by powder XRD, TG-DTA, FT-IR, SEM, EDAX, HR-TEM, SAED, BET analysis and photoluminescence (PL) studies. A plausible mechanism for the formation of cubic MgO microtubes from monoclinic hydromagnesite flowers is proposed. The as-synthesized nanofibrous MgO microtubes have shown intense green and red emission. The more defective MgO microtubes formed in N2 atmosphere at 400°C showed the highest PL intensity and surface area. An attempt has been made to correlate the lattice parameter and the PL intensity. © 2007 American Chemical Society.

C. M. Janet

Balasubramanian Viswanathan

Ram Prasad Viswanath

Thirukkallam Kanthadai Varadarajan

Catalyst activity

Precipitation (chemical)

Scanning electron microscopy

Surface active agents

Synthesis (chemical)

X ray diffraction analysis

HYDROMAGNESITE FLOWERS

MICROTUBES

Magnesia

IIT Madras is a public technical and research university located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Founded in 1959, it is recognised as an Institute of National Importance.

IIT Madras has been ranked as the top engineering institute in India for four years in a row by the National Institutional Ranking Framework of the MHRD

It currently offers undergraduate, postgraduate and research degrees across 16 disciplines in Engineering, Sciences, Humanities and Management. About 596 faculty belonging to science and engineering departments and centres of the Institute are engaged in teaching, research and industrial consultancy.

IIT Madras

Journal of Physical Chemistry C

Ceramics International

Combustion synthesis, structure, magnetic and optical properties of cobalt aluminate spinel nanocrystals

Nanosized zirconium oxide (ZrO2) powders were synthesized by the microwave combustion synthesis (MCS) using glycine as the fuel without using any template, catalyst or surfactant. For the purpose of comparison, it was also prepared using solution combustion synthesis (SCS). The assynthesized ZrO 2 was characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), high resolution scanning electron microscopy (HR-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The XRD results confirmed the formation of cubic phase ZrO2. FT-IR was used to investigate the adsorption of water and CO2 on ZrO2 surface and confirm the formation of Zr-O phase. The formation of ZrO2 nanospheres was confirmed by HR-SEM and TEM and their possible formation mechanisms were also proposed. The optical absorption and photoluminescence emissions were determined by DRS and PL spectra respectively. Copyright © 2013 American Scientific Publishers.

Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology

Structural and Optical Properties of Novel ZrO2 Nanostructures by Microwave and Solution Combustion Method

ZrO 2 nanocrystals were synthesized by the microwave combustion method (MCM) using urea as the fuel without using any template, catalyst or surfactant. For the purpose of comparison, it was also prepared using the conventional combustion method (CCM). The as-synthesized ZrO 2 was characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), high resolution scanning electron microscopy (HR-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The results indicated that the ZrO 2 nanocrystals obtained by MCM show high crystallinity and uniform size distribution than the ones prepared by CCM. Hence, the influence of the preparation methods on the structure, morphology and optical activity of ZrO 2 was investigated systematically. Photocatalytic degradation (PCD) of 4-Chlorophenol (4-CP), a potent endocrine disrupting chemical in aqueous medium was investigated by ZrO 2 nanocrystals obtained by MCM. The kinetics of PCD was found to follow pseudo first-order. Having established that ZrO 2 was photo catalytically active, the mixed oxide catalysts of ZrO 2-TiO 2 were also tested for the PCD of 4-CP. © 2012 Elsevier Inc.

Journal of Colloid and Interface Science

Comparative investigation of zirconium oxide (ZrO2) nano and microstructures for structural, optical and photocatalytic properties

Magnesium oxide (MgO) was synthesised by a simple microwave-assisted combustion route without using any template, catalyst or surfactant. For the purpose of comparison, it was also prepared using conventional method. The as-synthesized MgO was characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), high resolution scanning electron microscopy (HR-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The XRD results confirmed the formation of cubic phase MgO. FT-IR was used to investigate the adsorption of water and CO2 on MgO surface and confirm the formation of Mg-O phase. The formation of MgO micro cubes structures was confirmed by HR-SEM. The formation of MgO nanosheets was confirmed by HR-SEM and TEM and their possible formation mechanisms were also proposed. The optical absorption and photoluminescence emissions were determined by DRS and PL spectra respectively. An attempt has been made to compare the lattice parameter and the PL intensity. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.

Journal of Alloys and Compounds

Comparative study of microwave and conventional methods for the preparation and optical properties of novel MgO-micro and nano-structures

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys.

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Who's Who

Tennet, Michael John, (born 18 Jan. 1963), QC 2006; barrister

Journal of Catalysis

Pd nanoparticles with highly defined structure on MgO as model catalysts: An FTIR study of the interaction with CO, O2, and H2 under ambient conditions

Journal of Nanoparticle Research

Large-scale synthesis of single-crystalline MgO with bone-like nanostructures

Materials Research Bulletin

Fabrication of hexagonal MgO and its precursors by a homogeneous precipitation method

Characterization and photoluminescence properties of MgO microtubes synthesized from hydromagnesite flowers

Journal	Journal of Physical Chemistry C
ISSN	19327447
Open Access	No