Abstract
In this research, nanostructured magnesium oxide was synthesized through the sol-gel calcination or hydrothermal calcination method using various surfactants. The X-ray diffraction pattern of the materials confirmed that all the prepared magnesium oxide samples were single phase without any impurity. The scanning electron microscopy images and specific surface area values showed that sodium dodecyl sulfate was the most suitable surfactant for the synthesis of magnesium oxide nanoplates with the diameter of 40–60 nm, the average thickness of 5 nm, and a specific surface area of 126 m2/g. This material was utilized for nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide adsorption under ambient condition. The saturated adsorption capacities of magnesium oxide were 174 mg/g for nitrogen dioxide and 160 mg/g for sulfur dioxide, making the magnesium oxide nanoplates a promising candidate for toxic gas treatment.
Highlights
Nowadays, air pollution caused by the emission of toxic gases from human and industrial activities poses tremendous threats to human health and the destructive effects to the ecosystem
Three different surfactants (PEG, CTAB, and SDS) were utilized for the synthesis of MgO nanocrystals by solgel and hydrothermal methods. eir crystalline structures are presented in Figure 2. e most intense peaks in X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of the synthesized MgO samples were observed at 2θ of 37.16°, 43.12°, and 62.40° which were well-matched with those of JCPDS data file of standard MgO no. 78-0430 [31]
E XRD patterns of MgO synthesized by using different surfactants and synthesis methods were basically similar to the surfactant-free MgO, indicating that the crystal structure of MgO was not affected by surfactants or synthesis methods
Summary
Air pollution caused by the emission of toxic gases from human and industrial activities poses tremendous threats to human health and the destructive effects to the ecosystem. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) are criteria pollutants that have adverse impacts on the environment. Both of NO2 and SO2 are released from natural and anthropological sources including forest fires, volcanic eruptions, transportation systems, and the combustion process. Adsorption is one of the most effective methods for toxic gas treatment owing to simple processing and regeneration at low cost. Several materials such as activated carbon, hydroxide, metal oxide, sepiolite, and metal organic frameworks (MOFs) have been widely used as effective absorbents [10,11,12,13]
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