Use of Lignin and Hemicelluloses for Facial Synthesis of Gold, Platinum, and Palladium Nanoparticles

For the first time, we report an environmentally benign process for the preparation of Pt, Au and Pd NPs at ambient atmospheric pressure in aqueous systems, using water-insoluble alkali lignin (AL) and hemicelluloses as reducing/protective agents. Both AL and hemicelluloses showed good performances. The solid AL acted as support for metal NPs. The metal particles reduced by hemicelluloses aggregated to larger particles, and the degree of aggregation increased over time.