Synthesis of Metallic Nanoparticles Using Electrogenerated Reduced Forms of [α-SiW12O40]4- as Both Reductants and Stabilizing Agents

In this paper, controlled potential bulk electrolysis at a glassy carbon working electrode was conveniently employed to produce the reduced forms of H-4[alpha-SiW12O40] with little or no supporting electrolyte. Consequently, without the need for separation and purification, these reduced forms of [alpha-SiW12O40](4-) were directly used as both the reductants and the stabilizing agents for the size-controlled synthesis of various types of metallic and alloy nanoparticles, including Au, Ag, Pt, Pd and Ag-Au. Ni nanoparticles were also successfully synthesized using highly reduced [alpha-SiW12O40](4-) under neutral pH condition. The Pt nanoparticles thus obtained displayed attractive electrocatalytic properties in methanol oxidation.