Redox-Controlled Size-Selective Fabrication of Nanostructured Transition Metal Colloids

Nanostructured transition metal clusters and colloids have various potential applications, their properties depending on the particle size, which ranges from 1 to 10 nm. Here is described a new way to prepare transition metal colloids size-selectively by simply varying the redox properties of a particular class of reductants, i.e. by varying the carboxylate anion according to the pKa value of the corresponding carboxylic acid. The method is applied here to a large range of systems and requires no complicated separation or purification procedures.