Hydrothermal Synthesis and Characterization of Alkaline-Earth Metal Phenylphosphonate Nanostructures

A simple hydrothermal method has been designed for the synthesis of the nanorods of alkaline-earth metal phenylphosphonates Mg(O 3 PPh)·H 2 O and M(HO 3 PPh) 2 (M = Ca or Sr) in the presence of surfactants cetyltrimethylammonium bromide or sodium dodecyl sulfate at pH 6.0. Rod-shaped nanocrystals, nanocubes, and hexagonal nanocrystals of the Ba(HO 3 PPh) 2 have also been prepared separately. The possible growth mechanisms of these nanocrystals were elucidated in detail. Mesoporous nanorods of Ca 2 P 2 O 7 possessing a large surface area and high thermal stability were obtained by removing the organic part of Ca(HO 3 PPh) 2 nanorods at 700 °C. X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution TEM, electron diffraction, and Brunauer−Emmett−Teller surface area were used to characterize these materials.