Synthesis of palladium nanoparticles by sonochemical reduction of palladium(II) nitrate in aqueous solution.

The sonochemical synthesis of stable palladium nanoparticles has been achieved by ultrasonic irradiation of palladium(II) nitrate solution. The starting solutions were prepared by the addition of different concentrations of palladium(II) nitrate in ethylene glycol and poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP). The resulting mixtures were irradiated with ultrasonic 50 kHz waves in a glass vessel for 180 min. The UV-visible absorption spectroscopy and pH measurements revealed that the reduction of Pd(II) to metallic Pd has been successfully achieved and that the obtained suspensions have a long shelf life. The protective effect of PVP was studied using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. It has been found that, in the presence of ethylene glycol, the stabilization of the nanoparticles results from the adsorption of the PVP chain on the palladium particle surface via the coordination of the PVP carbonyl group to the palladium atoms. The effect of the initial Pd(II) concentration on the Pd nanoparticle morphology has been investigated by transmission electron microscopy. It has been shown that the increase of the Pd(II)/PVP molar ratio from 0.13 x 10(-3) to 0.53 x 10(-3) decreases the number of palladium nanoparticles with a slight increase in particle size. For the highest Pd(II)/PVP value, 0.53 x 10(-3), the reduction reaction leads to the unexpected smallest nanoparticles in the form of aggregates.