A facile, dissolution-free route to direct synthesis of hexagonal magnesium hydroxide nanoplates from natural brucite is reported. Stable brucite undergoes disaggregation into thin nanosheets and subsequent solid-solid transformation in the presence of p-toluene sulfonate, circumventing the threshold of size effect from bulk brucite to Mg(OH)(2) nanoplates.

Density functional theory (DFT) at the generalised gradient approximation level is employed within the periodic electrostatic embedded cluster method (PEECM) to model the brucite (0001) surface. Three representative studies are then used to demonstrate the reliability of the PEECM for the description of the interactions of various ionic species with the layered Mg(OH)2 structure, and its perfor...

We investigate the high-pressure phase diagram of the hydrous mineral brucite, Mg(OH)2, using structure search algorithms and ab initio simulations. We predict a high-pressure phase stable at pressure and temperature conditions found in cold subducting slabs in Earth's mantle transition zone and lower mantle. This prediction implies that brucite can play a much more important role in water tran...

Introduction: The dwarf planet Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt and is a primary target of NASA’s Dawn mission [1]. Recent modeling has shown that Ceres is likely differentiated and consists of a thin silicate+ice crust underlain by a thicker water ice mantle [2,3]. The presence of hydrated phases on Ceres, as inferred from the 3 μm absorption feature present in surface reflecta...

In contrast to most ionic minerals studied by SFM, the periclase (001) surface dissolves not by retreat of monolayer steps parallel to (001), but by retreat of a rough surface perpendicular to (001). At pH , 2, dissolution has an additional contribution from retreating macro-steps at the edges of nearly square pits. The macro-steps have heights up to 120 nm. In general, step direction is parall...

Crystallization of struvite (MgNH4PO4·6H2O, MAPH) for both N and P recovery from municipal wastewater is an attractive alternative. The low magnesium concentration in calls low-cost sources. In the present work, precipitation supersaturated solutions was investigated. were prepared by addition either slurry Mg(OH)2 (brucite) obtained hydrothermal treatment oxide (MgO) or using aqueous solution ...

Combination of two-dimensional layered materials and intercalation technique offers a new area for developing nanohybrids with desired functionality. Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) are mineral and synthetic materials with positively charged brucite type layers of mixed metal hydroxides. Exchangeable anions located in interlayer spaces compensate for positive charge of brucite type layer. Sinc...

Films of brucite-type cobalt hydroxide with nanorod morphology and hydrotalcite-type cobalt hydroxide with nanosheet morphology films were fabricated by heterogeneous nucleation in a chemical bath using water and a mixed solution of water–methanol as solvents, respectively. Since oxygen is around 25 times more soluble in methanol than in water, a methanol solution was used to convert a part of ...