Physicochemical Aspects of Metal Nanoparticle Preparation

Abstract

Physicochemical properties, including optical properties or catalytic activity, and biological properties of metal nanoparticles are considerably influenced by their diameter. Therefore, a tailored synthesis of metal nanoparticles represents a key topic in the field of nanotechnology, and the number of research papers, concerning this topic, has been annually growing with an arithmetic progression. Metal nanoparticles are most frequently prepared via chemical reduction of metals in ionic form from their solutions. Using this synthetic approach, tailored parameters of the particles can be achieved via the adjustment of numerous factors: difference of potentials of the metal redox system and the reducing agent redox system, pH of the reaction mixture, and its temperature. The influence of these three factors on the diameter of the prepared metal nanoparticles will be discussed in the following chapter with respect to general laws and based on numerous examples from research practice.