Surfactant-Free Precious Metal Colloidal Nanoparticles for Catalysis

Colloidal syntheses of nanoparticles (NPs) are one the preferred approaches to prepare precious metal catalysts. Unfortunately, most colloidal developed require stabilizing agents avoid NP agglomeration and/or control size and morphology. While these surfactants can bring positive features, they typically block catalytically active sites on surface. As a consequence, additives often need be removed by energy time consuming steps, at risk complicating synthesis, introducing irreproducibility negatively altering structure properties prepared Fortunately, several surfactant-free have been reported being developed. This Mini Review addresses challenges in defining synthesis NPs survey established emerging strategies obtain NPs. A focus is given that show promising features bridge gap between fundamental applied research towards industrial applications.