Hairy Metal Nanoparticles for Catalysis: Polymer Ligand‐Mediated Catalysis

Summary

In this chapter, we summarize the applications of hairy metal nanoparticles (NPs) with a focus on how polymer ligands impact the catalytical efficiency of metal NPs. Adding polymer ligands to metal NPs is of essential importance to improve the colloidal stability of NP catalysts under reaction conditions. As a passive layer between the catalytic sites and substrate(s), polymer ligands play a role in controlling the diffusion and gating the accessibility of metal NPs. We highlight a few examples of hairy metal NPs with brush‐like polymers to engineer the catalytic surface as a post‐synthesis tool, complementary to other synthetic methods to tune the surface energy and catalytic activity of metal NPs. The significance of polymer ligands in various NP‐mediated chemical transformations as well as the stability of metal NPs are discussed based on the interaction of polymer ligands with metal NPs.