Synthesis of magnesium titanate nanocrystallites from a cheap and water-soluble single source precursor

Pure nanocrystallite magnesium titanate (MgTiO3) was conveniently synthesized by thermal decomposition of a cheap and water-soluble heterobimetallic single source precursor [Mg(H2O)5]2[Ti2(O2)2O(NC6H6O6)2]·7H2O at low temperature. This single source precursor was obtained in high yield and in a crystalline form from the quaternary system of MgO–Ti(OC4H9)4–H2O2–H3nta (H3nta = nitrilotriacetic acid) at pH 4.0. It was characterized by elemental analysis, IR spectrum, NMR, thermal gravimetric analysis and X-ray single-crystal diffraction. The morphology, microstructure, and crystallinity of the resulting MgTiO3 materials have been characterized by transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The TEM image of the resulting MgTiO3 powders only consists of the nano-scale crystallites with the crystalline size of 30–100 nm.