Ligand-stabilized metal nanoparticles in organic solvent

This critical review reports the fundamental behavior of metal nanoparticles in different organic solvents, Le., metal organosol. An overview on metal organosol and then their smart synthetic approaches, characterization, and potential applications in the fields of catalysis and spectroscopy with special emphasis on SERS are embodied. Aspects of organosol fabrication, stabilization, morphology control, growth mechanisms, and physical properties as mono- and bimetallic nanoparticles are discussed. The article inspires the repetitive usage of metal nanoparticles as stable deliverable organic and molecular compounds. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.