Growth of cubic anhydrous magnesium carbonate single crystal in deep eutectic solvent

This strategy of preparing anhydrous MgCO3 (AMC) using the solid source was introduced in this paper. The binary deep eutectic solvent containing MgCl2·6H2O and urea was prepared by simple grind at the room temperature. Subsequently, the prepared deep eutectic solvent of MgCl2·6H2O/urea was used as precursor to synthesize AMC by solvothermal synthesis. The single crystal of layered spiral-type AMC microcube was obtained and its growth and morphology evolution process were studied. It was found that the defect of AMC was driven by screw dislocation. In addition, the effect of extra water on the structure and morphology of the MgCO3 compounds were discussed. The preparation method is simple, fast and environment amity.