ScCO2 assisted preparation of supported metal NPs. Application to catalyst design.

• Preparation of active supported metal NPs as active via kinetic control in scCO2.
• Control of NPs morphology, composition and organization/architecture on support.
• Physical and chemical properties correlation is validated with the systems catalytic behaviour.
• Reaction yield - dependent on NPs size.
• Selectivity - influenced by the NPs organization/architecture and type of support.

Designing and developing materials with specific properties are nowadays important tasks. These could be achieved by choosing the adequate conditions, from a myriad of possibilities, being aware that slight changes in the preparation method could have major impact on the final material. With the work presented here, we are showing that kinetically controlled surface nano-structuring (NPs formation and deposition over solid supports) in scCO2 is a versatile way for preparing active materials. Size, composition, morphology and organization/architecture of supported metal NPs can be controlled by playing with the type of metal, metal precursor, reaction media composition (stronger or weaker reducing media) and different supports employed. Moreover, direct correlation between physical (size, morphology, organization) and chemical properties (composition, surface chemistry) are demonstrated with the systems catalytic behaviour, yield and selectivity, exemplified with N-alkylation reaction of amines with alcohols.

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