Syntheses of Nanostructured Magnesium Carbonate Powders with Mesoporous Structures from Carbon Dioxide

Abstract

In this work, we present the results of two synthesis approaches for mesoporous magnesium carbonates, that result in mineralization of carbon dioxide, producing carbonate materials without the use of cosolvents, which makes them more environmentally friendly. In one of our synthesis methods, we found that we could obtain nonequilibrium crystal structures, with acicular crystals branching bidirectionally from a denser core. Both Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction showed these crystals to be a mixture of sulfate and hydrated carbonates. We attribute the nonequilibrium morphology to coprecipitation of two salts and short synthesis time (25 min). Other aqueous synthesis conditions produced mixtures of carbonates with different morphologies, which changed depending on drying temperature (40 or 100 °C). In addition to aqueous solution, we used supercritical carbon dioxide for synthesis, producing a hydrated magnesium carbonate, with a nesquehonite structure, according to X-ray diffraction. This second material has smaller pores (1.01 nm) and high surface area. Due to their high surface area, these materials could be used for adsorbents and capillary transport, in addition to their potential use for carbon capture and sequestration.