12. Strategies for the Synthesis of Anisotropic Catalytic Nanoparticles

The design and synthesis of well-defined nanoscale anisotropic particles is opening new avenues toward developing a fundamental understanding of their chemical and physical properties. Obtaining nanoparticles that are homogenous in size and shape can be a challenging process, particularly for particles that consist of reactive metals. Anisotropy further adds to the complexity in controlling the kinetics and thermodynamics of the nucleation and growth processes. Access to well-defined nanoparticles provides the ability to develop succinct pathways toward elucidating reaction mechanisms they mediate as well as understanding their stability in various environments. Thus, significant effort in the field of nanoscale science and technology has focused on developing procedures that are reproducible in yielding well-defined nanoparticles. This chapter reviews various methods for the synthesis of catalytic metal nanoparticles and the impact of their shape on the reactivity. Methodology for the characterization of the nanostructures is also described.