Understanding the role of solvents in bottom-up synthesis of multi-element hydroxides

Fei Li; Kanako Yoshida; Nguyen Van Chuc; Minoru Osada; Hiroya Abe

doi:10.1039/d3ra07344k

Understanding the role of solvents in bottom-up synthesis of multi-element hydroxides

RSC Adv. 2024 Jan 2;14(1):75-82. doi: 10.1039/d3ra07344k.

Authors

Fei Li¹, Kanako Yoshida¹, Nguyen Van Chuc², Minoru Osada³, Hiroya Abe¹

Affiliations

¹ Joining and Welding Research Institute, Osaka University Osaka 5670047 Japan feili@jwri.osaka-u.ac.jp h-abe@jwri.osaka-u.ac.jp.
² Institute of Materials Science, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology Hanoi Vietnam.
³ Institute of Materials and Systems for Sustainability, Nagoya University Nagoya 4648603 Japan.

Abstract

Here we report a comparative study on the bottom-up synthesis of multi-element hydroxides composed of Mg, Al, Fe and Zn cations to understand the role of solvents. Two common solvents, water and ethylene glycol, a typical polyol, are used. The polyol-derived MgAlFeZn-OH are nanosheets with homogeneous elemental distribution, while the hydrothermal-derived MgAlFeZn-OH are mixtures of plate-like hydroxide layers and rod-like spinel oxides. The coordinating properties and the high viscosity of the ethylene glycol provide the possibility to mediate the hydrolysis rates and to control the particle growth. The high specific surface area of the polyol-derived multi-element hydroxide nanosheets (352.4 m² g^-1) guarantees them as excellent adsorbents for adsorbing anionic dyes in aqueous solution.