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Fabrication of a 3D Hierarchical Flower‐Like MgO Microsphere and Its Application as Heterogeneous Catalyst
Author(s) -
Qu Yang,
Zhou Wei,
Ren Zhiyu,
Pan Kai,
Tian Chungui,
Liu Yang,
Feng Shanshan,
Dong Youzhen,
Fu Honggang
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
european journal of inorganic chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.667
H-Index - 136
eISSN - 1099-0682
pISSN - 1434-1948
DOI - 10.1002/ejic.201100936
Subject(s) - microsphere , chemistry , catalysis , chemical engineering , crystallinity , nanotechnology , organic chemistry , materials science , crystallography , engineering
A 3D hierarchical flower‐like MgO microsphere was successfully obtained by pyrolysis of the flower‐like Mg 5 (CO 3 ) 4 (OH) 2 · 4H 2 O microsphere precursor which was itself synthesised by means of a facile and environmentally friendly hydrothermal route from MgCl 2 · 6H 2 O. The possible formation process of the microsphere precursor was systematically investigated and considered to result from the following steps: (i) forming the 1D pillar‐like MgCO 3 ; (ii) cracking to a 2D flake structure; (iii) assembling to the 3D flower‐like Mg 5 (CO 3 ) 4 (OH) 2 · 4H 2 O microsphere. The obtained close‐packed 3D flower‐like MgO microsphere has cubic symmetry and high crystallinity assembled by nanoflake particles with a mean diameter of 10 μm. Moreover, the heterogeneous catalysis of the Claisen–Schmidt condensation reaction between benzaldehyde and acetophenone to synthesise chalcones was also studied. The 3D flower‐like MgO microsphere exhibited better catalytic performance than that of commercial MgO and this was attributed to the especially 3D hierarchical flower‐like structure and the large surface area.