NON-NOBLE METAL MICRO-AGGREGATES, PROCESS FOR THEIR MANUFACTURE AND THEIR USE IN THE CATALYSIS OF THE PHOTOREDUCTION OF WATER

摘要

The invention relates to metal microaggregates. The monodisperse of the invention are non-noble metal microaggregates in a monodispersed form in a solid or liquid medium and of a size uniformly less than 5 nm. They are obtained by irradiation of a metal salt or a mixture of salts, by means of an ionizing radiation source, by dissolving a non-noble metal salt or a mixture of metal salts, at least one of which is a non-noble metal, in an appropriate solvent, in the presence of an oxidizing radical scavenger and a surfactant and/or a support, and then by carrying out irradiation. Application is for catalysis of various reactions, in particular the photoreduction of water into hydrogen.