Reductive deposition of Ni-Zn nanoparticles selectively on TiO2 fine particles in the liquid phase

A novel metal nanoparticle synthesis method has been developed, in which metallic Ni nanoparticles with an amorphous-like structure were selectively deposited on TiO2 fine particles through the reduction from the liquid phase. The addition of Zn proved to decrease the nanoparticles size, leading to the increase in the total area of catalytically active Ni surface. In addition, nanoparticles were highly stabilized by the deposition on TiO2, so that the catalytic activity of Zn-added TiO2-supported Ni nanoparticles (Ni-Zn/TiO2) in the 1-octene hydrogenation was ca. 10 times higher than that of unsupported Ni nanoparticles.