The role of acetic acid in magnesium oxide preparation via chemical precipitation

The role of acetic acid in magnesium oxide (MgO) preparation through a chemical precipitation process was investigated in this work. The as-synthesized precursors and MgO powders were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy, and differential thermal analysis. Compared with the samples without using acetic acid, the addition of acetic acid as a chemical modifier can enhance the crystal growth of the precursor Mg(OH)(2) in (001) orientation, and significantly lower the transition temperature from Mg(OH)(2) to MgO, which could be due to the formation of a bidentate coordination compound of carboxyl groups with magnesium hydroxide.