Extractant assisted synthesis of polymer stabilized platinum and palladium metal nanoparticles for sensor applications

Extractant-assisted synthesis of platinum and palladium polymer-stabilized metal nanoparticles (PSMNP) was carried out for the first time. The synthesis included the following sequential steps: a) loading of extractant (tributyl-phosphine oxide, TBPO) with the desired metal ion; b) preparation of a membrane "cocktail" by mixing a metal-containing extractant, solution of the polymer (PVC or polysulfone) and plastisizer; c) membrane deposition and metal reduction inside the membrane (intermatrix synthesis of PSMNP) by using either a chemical or an electrochemical reduction technique. The electro conductivity of the resulting polymer-metal nanocomposite membrane appeared by several orders of magnitude higher than that of the metal-free polymer. The mass-exchange properties of PSMNP-containing membranes were shown to depend on both the type of the polymer and the membrane deposition technique.