Formation of silver nanoparticles in the redox reaction of silver(I) nitrate with crystalline macrocyclic nickel(II) compounds

The redox reaction of crystalline macrocyclic nickel(II) carboxylates with silver(I), gold(III), and palladium(II) salts leads to the formation of nanoclusters of the corresponding metals. The reaction with silver nitrate was used to show that the size of the nanoparticles formed depends both on the chemical and crystal structure of the solid matrix and the reaction time. The results open the possibility of forming noble metal nanoparticles with desired dimensions and dispersion.