I want to know the advantage of using silver nanoparticles in catalysis, since the catalytic reactions carried out using silver in coupling and reduction reactions always end up in failure.
It is all about surface. Just try to react a block of magnesium and fine activated Mg turning while preparing Grignard reagents, or any such reactions, you notice the difference in the reactivity. Nano-particles are very different from metal block.
As the metal particles getting smaller in size, the ratio of surface to volume in is increased. Therefore, nanoparticles, such as Ag NPs, have much more atoms in the surface than bulk counterpart. This will provide more catalytic active sites, since the catalytic reactions take place on the surface of the used catalyst.
Due to the presence of surface plasmons, silver nanoparticles are absorbing in the visible. This help the photooxydation processes.
Dear Ramakrishnan
The answers by colleagues above are correct. Nano-Tech and Nano-Science are there because nano-particles have much much larger specific surface area. This increases the activity tremendously. That one point.
Moreover, the material properties change when we miniaturize it into the nano-scale (below 100 nm). Example: Band gap value increases in the nano-scale. Quantum-Dot technology becomes significant as the particle properties change with little change in particle size. Conductivity changes. Color changes. Absorptivity changes. ..... etc.
Disorder changes in the nano-scale. Surface changes, many things also change.
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