Synthesis of Mg Alkoxide Nanowires from Mg Alkoxide Nanoparticles upon Ligand Exchange.

We report on a new synthesis pathway for Mg n -propoxide nanowires (NWs) from Mg ethoxide nanoparticles using a simple alkoxy ligand exchange reaction followed by condensation polymerization in n -propanol. In order to uncover the morphology-structure correlation in the metal alkoxide family, we employed a powerful range of state-of-the-art characterization techniques. The morphology transformation from nanoparticles to nanowires was demonstrated by time-lapse SEM micrographs. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (such as 1 H NMR and solid-state 13 C cross-polarization (CP)-MAS NMR) illustrated the replacement of ethyl by n -propyl and metal alkoxide condensation polymerization. We identified chemical formulas of the products also using NMR spectroscopy. The crystal structure simulation of Mg ethoxide particles and Mg n -propoxide NWs provided insights on how the ligand exchange and the associated increase in the fraction of OH groups greatly enhanced Mg alkoxide bonding and enabled a higher degree of coordination polymerization to facilitate the formation and growth of the Mg n -propoxide NWs. The discovered synthesis method could be extended for the fabrication of other metal alkoxide (nano) structures with various morphologies.