Facile Synthesis of Magnesium Oxide Nanoparticles for Effective Photocatalytic Degradation of Dyes

Significant environmental challenges require to be addressed to efficiently decompose the organic pollutants. Herein, a novel photocatalytic approach is proposed that leverages advanced nanomaterials to improve pollutant removal rates. The magnesium oxide nanoparticles were synthesized using simple chemical simultaneous precipitation method, utilizing magnesium nitrate as main precursor. The microstructural analysis of samples was investigated by XRD and SEM techniques. An absorption shifting toward the blue end of the spectrum observed in UV-VIS absorption spectrum suggests the development of MgO nanoparticles. Energy-gap energies of MgO nanoparticles were examined as function of calcination temperature and band-gap energies decreased from 5.43-5.04 eV, a change attributed to grain growth in samples. This finding aligns with the particle sizes determined from XRD and SEM. The typical sizes of the synthesized nanoparticles were ranged between 5-23 nm. The synthesized MgO nanoparticles demonstrated remarkable light-activated catalytic efficiency for the reduction of methyl orange and Victoria blue dyes under UV light exposure. Based on the results, a large number of native defects is associated with the excellent photocatalytic performance of synthesized MgO nanoparticles.