Structurally organized nanocomposites in the catalysis of chlorohydrocarbon reactions

Catalysis by closely packed metal films containing monodispersed nanocluster ensembles was considered using the reactions of chlorinated hydrocarbons as an example; these reactions include a step of electron transfer from a catalyst to a reactant. A new laser electrodispersion technique was used for preparing films that consisted of spherical copper grains 5 nm in size coated with thin (0.7 nm) layers of copper(I) oxide with different particle packing densities on the surface of thermally oxidized silicon. A comparison of the catalytic activity of films with varied packing density in media with different permittivities allowed us to assume that the observed maximum activity of closely packed films was associated with the appearance of charged grains in the ensembles of interacting nanoparticles due to the thermal fluctuations of electrons between closely spaced grains.