Abstract
A novel and straightforward approach, based on oil-in-water (o/w) microemulsions, was developed for the synthesis of inorganic nanoparticles at ambient conditions. It implies the use of organometallic precursors dissolved in nanometre-scale oil droplets of o/w microemulsions. Addition of reducing or oxidizing/precipitating agents results in the formation of metallic or metal oxide nanoparticles, respectively. Nonionic o/w microemulsion systems were chosen, and several key compositions were selected for nanoparticle synthesis at 25 °C. High Resolution Electron Microscopy revealed that small nanoparticles of metals (Pt, Pd and Rh) and nanocrystalline metal oxide (cerium (IV) oxide with cubic type crystalline structure confirmed by XRD), of less than 7 nm can be obtained in mild conditions.
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Acknowledgement
This research was financially supported by Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (MEC Spain, grant number CTQ2005-09063-CO3-O2 and CTQ2008-01979) and Generalitat de Catalunya (grant number 2005-SGR-00812). M. Sanchez-Dominguez is grateful to CSIC for a JAE-Doc contract and to COST ACTION D43 for a Short Term Scientific Mission.
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Sanchez-Dominguez, M., Boutonnet, M. & Solans, C. A novel approach to metal and metal oxide nanoparticle synthesis: the oil-in-water microemulsion reaction method. J Nanopart Res 11, 1823–1829 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-009-9660-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-009-9660-8