Metal Nanoparticles and Cyclodextrins for Catalytic Applications

Abstract

The development of efficient catalysts in terms of activity and selectivity has always been a major topic for researchers since several decades. The use of colloidal metallic nanoparticles received an increasing interest due to their large surface area leading to high catalytic activities. The main problems for these nanoparticles arise from the control of their size and also their aggregation before and during the catalytic process. In this context, the use of cyclodextrins as protective agents proved to be effective and allowed the rise of a large variety of catalytic systems at the nanoscale.In this chapter, we reviewed all the articles related to the metallic nanoparticles synthesized in the presence of cyclodextrin for catalytic applications since the 1980s to early 2020. The major points are (1) the possibility of development of metal nanoparticles in solution or immobilized onto a support in the presence of cyclodextrin; (2) the multiple roles of cyclodextrin such as reducing agent, mass transfer agent, and stabilizing/dispersing agent leading to the increase of the stability of metal nanoparticles and better catalytic activities or specific selectivities; and (3) the control and the use of more complex catalytic systems where cyclodextrin is playing the main role as a supramolecular host.