Photochemical Synthesis of Naked Palladium Nanoparticles

Palladium nanoparticles are widely used in catalysis, sensors, coatings and hydrogen storage devices. This paper reports the one-pot photochemical reduction of Pd(II) alcohol solutions into Pd^0 nanoparticle suspensions. The synthesis involves the reduction of [PdCl_4]^(2−) dissolved in EtOH/2-PrOH mixtures by the ketyl radicals (Me)_2(HO)C⋅ generated from 254nm irradiation, in the absence of other chemical reducing agents. Clusters of 10nm Pd^0 particles thus produced could be separated from their suspensions by microfiltration. Preliminary tests are reported on the catalytic potential of such particles for the thermal dehydrogenation of alcohols