Production of Nanostructured Magnesium Carbonates from Serpentine: Implication for Flame Retardant Application

Magnesium carbonates are the final products of CO₂ mineral sequestration processes. In order to improve the process economics, it is strongly desirable to produce valued-added magnesium carbonates. In this work, magnesium carbonates with high purity were produced from the acidic serpentine leachate using a three-stage precipitation approach. The effect of the first-stage precipitation pH on the crystalline structure, morphology, purity and yield of the products was systematically investigated. The pure hydromagnesite sample with a honey-comb nanostructure prepared under optimized conditions is a promising candidate for flame retardant application due to its excellent thermal decomposition properties.