A green route for the preparation of layered double hydroxides from basic magnesium carbonate

Layered double hydroxides(LDHs)have received extensive attention in many fields such as catalysis,environmental management and medical applications.Typically,expensive soluble metal salts are commonly used as the starting materials for the synthesis of LDHs.Here,we report a novel synthesis route for Mg/Al-LDH by using inexpensive basic magnesium carbonate as the starting material.X-ray diffraction(XRD)and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance(ssNMR)data show that LDHs with rich defects are formed rapidly at room temperature and good crystallinity can be obtained after further hydrothermal treatment.These results provide a simple,rapid and green preparation method for LDHs.

Cytotoxicity,in Vivo Skin Irritation and Acute Systemic Toxicity of the Mesoporous Magnesium Carbonate Upsalite^(█)

Upsalite®is a mesoporous magnesium carbonate synthesized without using surfactants and therefore highly attractive from environmental and production economy points of view. The material has recently been suggested as drug delivery vehicle and as topical bacteriostatic agent. In order to continue exploring these and other bio-related applications of the material, primary biocompatibility studies are needed. Herein we present the first in vivo acute systemic toxicity and skin irritation analyses as well as in vitro cytotoxicity evaluations of Upsalite®. The material was found to be non-toxic for human dermal fibroblasts cells up to a concentration of 1000 μg/ml and 48 h exposure in contrast to the mesoporous silica material SBA-15, used as reference, which significantly affected cell viability at particle concentration of 500 and 1000 μg/ml after the same exposure time. Topical application of Upsalite®resulted in negligible cutaneous reactions in a rabbit skin irritation model and no evidence of significant systemic toxicity was found when saline extracts of Upsalite®were injected in mice. Injection of sesame oil extract, however, resulted in transient weight loss, most likely due to injection of particles, and not toxic leachables. The presented results form the basis for future development of Upsalite®and similar mesoporous materials in biomedical applications and further toxicity as well as biocompatibility studies should be directed towards specific areas of use.

Self-assembly with varying hydrophobic centers:Synthesis of red blood cell-like basic magnesium carbonate microspheres

Basic magnesium carbonate microspheres with a red blood cell （RBC）-like appearance and diameters of ~3μm were synthesized by amphiphilic molecule-participated self-assembly under hydrothermal conditions, In the self-assembly, sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate served as a template for the formation of Mg（OH）2 spherical micelles and also as a reactant precursor that releases CO2 to react with Mg（OH）2. The growth of the microspheres is driven by the continuous generation of new hydrophobic centers because of the consumption of hydrophilic poles （--SO3-）. The surfactant-directed self-assembly can be applied to the synthesis of other carbonate or metallic oxide self-assemblies, indicating that it is a universal self-assembly method for amphiphilic molecules.

Discussion on grain refining mechanism of AM30 alloy inoculated by MgCO_(3)

AM30 was inoculated by MgCO_(3) powder with different holding time.The influence of MgO decomposed by MgCO_(3)on the grain refinement effect was mainly discussed in the present study.Three sets of comparative samples were prepared.They were AM30 alloy inoculated by MgO and pure Mg inoculated by MgO and MgCO_(3).The possible nucleating particles were observed and analyzed by EPMA and SEM.AM30 alloy could be effectively refined by either MgCO_(3)or MgO inoculation.Grain refining efficiency and fading effect of MgO inoculation were better than those of MgCO_(3) inoculation.However,pure Mg could not be refined by these two inoculants.Al is an indispensable element to determine the grain refinement of Mg alloys inoculated by either MgCO_(3)or MgO.MgO should not be the effective substrates forα-Mg phase.A novel grain refining mechanism of MgCO_(3) inoculation on AM30 alloy was proposed by combining experimental results with theoretical calculation,i.e.,MgAl_(2)O_(4) should be the potent nuclei ofα-Mg grain for the AM30 alloy in addition to Al_(4)C_(3).

Cementation of Loose Sand Particles based on Bio-cement

Loose sand particles could be cemented to sandstone by bio-cement（microbial induced magnesium carbonate）. The bio-sandstone was firstly prepared, and then the compressive strength and the porosity of the sandstone cemented by microbial induced magnesium carbonate were tested to characterize the cementation effectiveness. In addition, the formed mineral composition and the microstructure of bio-sandstone were analyzed by X-ray diffraction（XRD） and scanning electron microscopy（SEM）, respectively. The experimental results show that the feasibility of binding loose sand particles using microbial induced magnesium carbonate precipitation is available and the acquired compressive strength of bio-sandstone can be excellent at certain ages. Moreover, the compressive strength and the porosity could be improved with the increase of microbial induced magnesium carbonate content. XRD results indicate that the morphology of magnesium carbonate induced by microbe appears as needles and SEM results show that the cementation of loose sand particles to sandstone mainly relies on the microbial induced formation of magnesium carbonate precipitation around individual particles and at particle-particle contacts.

Synthesis and formation mechanism of micro/nano flower-like MgCO_3·5H_2O

Micro/nano magnesium carbonate pentahydrate（MgCO3 ·5H2 O） with flower-like morphology was synthesized using magnesite as a substrate and potassium dihydrogen phosphate as an additive. The synthesized samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry. The influence of pyrolysis time on crystal morphology was explored. The formation mechanism was investigated on the basis of the characterized results and the crystal structure of MgCO3 ·5H2 O. The results showed that the flower-like MgCO3 ·5H2 O was 1.5-3.0 μm in length and 100-500 nm in diameter and was successfully obtained with a pyrolysis time of 30 min. The formation mechanism of flower-like MgCO3 ·5H2 O is suggested to be the selective adsorption of potassium dihydrogen phosphate on the surface. The process of flower-like crystal growth is as follows： amorphous nanoparticles formation, acicular and rod monocrystal formation, flower-like monocrystal formation, and flower-like polymers（MgCO3 ·5H2 O） crystallization. In the MgCO3 ·5H2 O crystal, the magnesium ion presents two different octahedral coordinations corresponding to2 26 Mg（H O）＋and2 2 2 4 23 [Mg（H O）（CO） ]--, and the chemical formula of the crystal is2 2 6 2 4 23 Mg（H O） Mg（H O）（CO）2.

A stepwise process for carbon dioxide sequestration using magnesium silicates

This work involves the production of magnesium in the form of Mg(OH)_(2)from serpentinite rock(nickel mine tailing)material followed by conversion into MgCO_(3)using a pressurised fluidised bed(PFB)reactor operating at 400℃-600℃and pressures up to 2.85 MPa.Our approach is rooted in the thermodynamic fact that the reaction between Mg(OH)_(2)and gaseous CO_(2)forming MgCO_(3)and water releases significant amounts of heat.The main problem is,however,the chemical kinetics;the reaction is slow and has to be accelerated in order to be used in an economically viable process for large-scale(~1 Mt/a)CO_(2)sequestration.We have constructed a labscale PFB reactor test-setup for optimising the carbonation reaction.At high enough temperatures and conversion levels the reaction should provide the heat for the proceeding Mg(OH)_(2)production step,making the overall process energy neutral.So far we have been able to achieve a conversion degree of 26%at 500℃and 2.85 MPa after 30 min(particle size 125-212μm).In this paper the test facility and our latest results and progress on CO_(2)mineral carbonation are summarised.Also,the possible integration of the iron as a feedstock for iron and steel production will be briefly addressed.An interesting side-effect of this carbon dioxide capture and storage(CCS)route is that significant amounts of iron are obtained from the serpentinite rock material.This is released during the Mg(OH)_(2)production and can be of great interest to the iron-and steel producing sector,which at the same time is Finland’s largest CO_(2)producer.

Characterization of CeO_2-ZrO_2 mixed oxides prepared by two different co-precipitation methods

A series of cerium zirconium mixed oxides were prepared by two co-precipitation methods using magnesium hydrogen carbonate （MHC） and mixed ammonia-ammonia hydrogen carbonate （AAHC） as precipitant respectively. The crystal structure, BET surface area and morphology of the produced cerium zirconium mixed oxides were characterized by X-ray diffraction （XRD）, Bru- mauer-Emmett-Teller （BET） and scanning electron microscopy （SEM） techniques. The reduction-oxidation behavior and oxygen storage capacity （OSC） performance were also studied by temperature programmed reduction （TPR） and oxygen pulse chemical adsorption methods. The XRD results demonstrated that the cerium zirconium mixed oxides obtained by both methods possessed struc ture of cubic solid solution phase. The fresh surface area calcinated at 600 ℃, aged surface area after 1000 ℃and OSC at 500 ℃ of cerium zirconium mixed oxides were determined to be 89.337, 34.784 ma/g, and 567 pmol O2/g for MHC method and 122.010, 46.307 m2/g, and 665 pmol O2/g for AAHC method, respectively.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of Mg-4.0Zn alloy reinforced by NiO-coated CNTs

Mg-4.0Zn alloy composite reinforced by NiO-coated CNTs （NiO@CNTs） was synthesized by combining ball-milling and a casting process. The yield strength （YS） and elongation to failure of the composite were dramatically increased by 44.9% and 38.6%, respectively, compared to its alloy counterpart. The signifi- cantly eahanced mechanical properties of the as-synthesized composite are mainly ascribed to an improved interracial bond, grain refinement and good dispersion of CNTs in the matrix via. coating NiO on CNTs. It is shown that the NiO-nanolayer on the CNTs significantly enhances the interfacial bonding strength and effectively prevents the agglomeration of CNTs. NiO@CNTs are, therefore, expected to be a highly sustainable and dispersible reinforcement for magnesium matrix composites with superior performance.

Effect of Mg Addition on Nucleation of Intra-granular Acicular Ferrite in Al-killed Low Carbon Steel

To verify the formation behaviors and mechanisms of intra-granular acicular ferrite（ IAF） grains nucleated by Mg-Al-O in low carbon steel,the steels containing different Mg contents were refined in a vacuum induction furnace. The effect of Mg addition on the formation of IAF structure in Al-killed low carbon steel was investigated by optical microscope（ OM） and scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscope（ SEM-EDX）. It reveals that the IAFs are only detected in Mg-added steels,and the volume fraction of IAF increases with the Mg concentration from 8 × 10^（-6） to 26 × 10^（-6）. It shows that not only the MgO-Al_2O_3-MnS and MgO-Al_2O_3-P_2O_5 particles are the effective nucleation sites for IAF,but also the pure MgO·Al_2O_3 phase can promote the ferrite nucleation. A Mn-depletion zone（ MDZ） is characterized adjacent to the MgO-Al_2O_3-MnS,which is believed to be one of the possible mechanisms to explain the IAF nucleation. The MDZ around the MgO-Al_2O_3-MnS inclusion would be induced by the Mn S precipitation on the inclusion. It seems that the ability of Mg-containing inclusions to induce the nucleation of ferrite might be attributed to a new mechanism,i. e.,the Prich zone formed on a few Mg-Al-O inclusions might be another factor for promoting the IAF formation.

A Novel Melt Processing for Mg Matrix Composites Reinforced by Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes

Carbon nanotubes（CNTs） reinforced Mg matrix composites were fabricated by a novel melt processing.The novel processing consisted of two courses：CNTs pre-dispersion and ultrasonic melt processing.Mechanical ball-milling was employed to pre-disperse CNTs on Zinc（Zn） flakes.Serious CNT entanglements were well dispersed to single CNT or tiny clusters on Zn flakes.The ultrasonic melt processing further dispersed CNTs in the Mg melt,especially tiny CNT clusters.Thus,a uniform dispersion of CNTs was achieved in the as-cast composites.Hot extrusion further improved the distribution of CNTs.CNTs increased both the strength and elongation of the matrix alloy.Notably,the elongation of the matrix alloy was enhanced by 40%.Grain refinement and the pulling-out of CNTs resulted in the evident improvement of ductility for the composites.