Synthesis of high surface area magnesia by using walnut shell as a template

Abstract

In the present study, high surface area amorphous magnesia was synthesized using walnut shell as a template. This green, simple and useful synthetic protocol was based on the precipitation of magnesium nitrate on biomass in an aqueous phase, followed by calcination. Materials were characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and N2 adsorption/desorption porosimetry, and the results exhibited high surface area for magnesium oxide. Furthermore, the pore size and surface area of these mesoporous materials can be adjusted by varying the biomass/magnesium nitrate ratio. In addition, magnesium oxide was studied as the support of palladium nanoparticles for the aerobic oxidation of alcohols. We have found out that the resulting Pd-loaded material acts as an effective catalytic system for the aerobic oxidation of benzylic and aliphatic alcohols. The catalyst can be recovered and reused three times without loss of activity. Also, to test the catalytic activity of magnesium oxides as a solid catalyst, we selected Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley reduction of cyclohexanone with 2-propanol over different magnesium oxides.

Keywords

• agricultural waste biomass
• alcohols
• catalysis
• green chemistry
• nanostructures
• surface area
• textural properties