Abstract
Magnesium hydroxide (Mg(OH)
2) micro- and nanostructures have been synthesized by a single step hydrothermal route. Surface morphology analysis reveals the formation of micro- and nanostructures with varying shape and size at different synthesis conditions. Structural investigations by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirm that the synthesized material is Mg(OH)
2 with hexagonal crystal structure. An optical band gap of 5.7
eV is determined for Mg(OH)
2 nanodisks from the UV–vis absorption spectrum. A broad emission band with maximum intensity at around 400
nm is observed in the photoluminescence (PL) spectra of Mg(OH)
2 nanodisks at room temperature depicting the violet emission, which can be attributed to the ionized oxygen vacancies in the material. Furthermore, Mg(OH)
2 has been converted to MgO by calcination at 450
°C. Optical studies of the MgO nanodisks have shown an optical band gap of 3.43
eV and a broadband PL emission in the UV region. Mg(OH)
2 and MgO nanostructures with wide-band gap and short-wavelength luminescence emission can serve as a better luminescent material for photonic applications.
