Synthesis and characterization of magnesium hydroxide by batch reaction crystallization

Abstract

Magnesium hydroxide with high purity and uniform particle size distribution was synthesized by the direct precipitation method using MgCl₂ and NaOH as reactive materials and NaCl as additive to improve the crystallization behavior of the product. The particle size distribution, crystal phase, morphology, and surface area of magnesium hydroxide were characterized by Malvern laser particle size analyzer, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Branauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method, respectively. The purity of products was analyzed by the chemical method. The effects of synthesis conditions on the particle size distribution and water content (filtration cake) of magnesium hydroxide were investigated. The results indicated that feeding mode and rate, and reaction temperature had important effects on water content and the particle size distribution of the product, and sodium chloride improved the crystallization behavior of magnesium hydroxide. The ball-like magnesium hydroxides with the particle size distribution of 6.0–30.0 μm and purity higher than 99.0% were obtained. This simple and mild synthesis method was promising to be scaled up for the industrial production of magnesium hydroxide.

Keywords

magnesium hydroxide / direct precipitation method / industrial crystallization / particle size distribution

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Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg