PVA-assisted preparation of Mg(OH)2/MgO nanostructures from seawater bittern through precipitation method

In this study, seawater bittern, a by-product of sea salt production containing a concentrated inorganic substance, was used to recover magnesium in the form of nanostructured magnesium hydroxide/oxide. Mg(OH)(2)/MgO nanostructures from seawater bittern were synthesized by a precipitation method with different addition of PVA surfactants. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of PVA surfactant on the morpho-structural properties and thermal behavior of MgO nanostructures. Simple control of the morphology and particle size of MgO nanostructures obtained by the addition of PVA was performed during synthesis. XRD structural analysis showed that the synthesized MgO samples have good crystalline nature. The average crystallite size of the samples is 26 nm, 26 nm, 23 nm, 24 nm, 23 nm and 23 nm, respectively, which decreases with increasing PVA content. Based on the average particle size, the optimum addition of poly(vinyl alcohol) is at a mass ratio of 1:1.5, since the smallest particles are obtained and have a uniform distribution. The SEM and TEM observations show an improvement in the agglomeration behavior of MgO nanoparticles by increasing the PVA content. The constituents of the samples were confirmed by XRF and EDS analysis.