Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 October 2013
Mesoporous MgO has been synthesized in the presence of the neutral block co-polymer surfactant Pluronic F127. The characterization of synthesized material was carried out by mean of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller technique (BET). The obtained MgO exhibited a value of the surface area of 157 m2/g and showed a narrow pore size distribution centered at 4.3 nm. The phenomena and gas evolved during calcinations have been investigated by thermogravimeter-mass spectrometer (TG-MS). During the calcinations, the precursor Mg(OH)2 was converted to MgO with a mass loss of 29% and with the formation of H2O (>60% of the gas evolved). The desorption of CO2 and a small amount of CO and/or N2 which were adsorbed from air on the surface of Mg(OH)2 were also observed. No organic compounds were found which indicated that F127 was completely removed by Soxhlet extraction.