Some aspects of colloidal nanoparticle stability, catalytic activity, and recycling potential

In this review article, we examine many important aspects of the nanocatalysis field such as size and shape dependent nanocatalysis, the stability of nanoparticles during its catalytic function, and their recycling potential. We provide an overview of some of the work in the literature pertinent to these topics and also discuss some of our own work in these important areas. Some examples of how the catalytic activity is affected by the size of the nanoparticles are discussed as well as how the catalytic process affects the nanoparticle size after its catalytic function. The synthesis of platinum nanoparticles of different shapes is surveyed and the dependence of nanoparticle shape on the catalytic activity is discussed. In addition, changes in the nanoparticle shape and resulting changes in the catalytic activity are also discussed. The recycling potential of the metal nanocatalysts is also highlighted. In addition, a simple examination of the mechanism of nanocatalysis is discussed.