The impact of electronic charge on catalytic reactivity and selectivity of metal-oxide supported metallic nanoparticles

The catalytic reactivity and selectivity of metallic nanoclusters supported on a metal-oxide can be tuned by electronic charge. In this review, different approaches for controlling the electronic properties of metallic nanoclusters and its impact on catalytic reactions are discussed. Electronic charge can transfer from the metal-oxide support to the metallic catalyst and change the metal-reactants interaction and as a consequence modify as-well the catalytic reactivity and selectivity. In other cases, the electronic properties of the metal-oxide have an active role in the catalytic process and the metal oxide can be used as a co-catalyst. Another approach is to directly change the electronic properties of the metallic catalyst. It is demonstrated that dendrimer-encapsulated metallic nanoparticles can be directly oxidized by the addition of an inorganic oxidizer to the solution phase. In this case, even while supported on inert oxides, novel catalytic reactivity and selectivity can be gained by the formation of highly oxidized metal ions.