A new approach to control the dispersion of platinum nanoparticles in a metal oxide coating

The present work shows the feasibility of preparing transparent titania coatings being doped with platinum nanoparticles by sol–gel processing. The used platinum nanoparticles are modified by two different functional thiol ligands, mercaptoethanol and mercaptopropionic acid. The functional ligands are used to create a nanoparticle network and they can also promote anchorage of titanium alkoxides as sol–gel precursors, ensuring a regular distribution of the metal nanoparticles within the coating as well as a good stability to the film.