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 H₄[α-SiW₁₂O₄₀] with little or no supporting electrolyte. Consequently, without the need for separation and purification, these reduced forms of [α-SiW₁₂O ₄₀]^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 [α-SiW₁₂O₄₀]^4- under neutral pH condition. The Pt nanoparticles thus obtained displayed attractive electrocatalytic properties in methanol oxidation.