Fabrication of MgO nanobelts using a halide source and their structural characterization

MgO nanobelts have been fabricated by chemical vapor deposition using MgCl3 as starting material. The products consist of a large quantity of belt-like nanostructures with typical lengths in the range of several tens to several hundreds of micrometers; some of them even have lengths on the order of a millimeter. The typical thickness and width-to-thickness ratio of the MgO nanobelts are in the range of 20 to 100 nm and about 5 to 10, respectively. The size and morphology of the MgO nanobelts were measured by transmission electron microscopy. Investigations of X-ray diffraction patterns and using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy indicate that the nanobelts have a cubic structure and are single-crystalline.