Chemical synthesis and application of palladium nanoparticles

In the past, palladium as a member of the platinum group metals was mainly known as an expensive noble metal. Probably, only fast hydrogen absorption into bulk palladium reminded of its unique catalytic activity. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, detailed studies of the electron structure of palladium atom/nanocluster/nanoparticles launched a new understanding of the selective catalytic activity of this noble metal. This review presents the simplest and most useful methods of synthesizing palladium in a nano scale. In addition, the most famous and required applications of nano-palladium are described in the second half of the review. With the rapid development of nanotechnologies, palladium nanoparticles are becoming prospective selective catalysts for complex chemical reactions.