Patent ID: 9539643
Date: 2017-01-10
CPC Classifications: B22F

Claim:
1. A method of making metal nanostructures consisting of elemental metal and having a nanometer size in at least one dimension, the following first two steps (i and ii) of the method consisting of: (i) preparing an aqueous solution consisting of water as the solvent and cations of a first metal and anions and cations associated with the cations of the first metal, the first metal being selected from the group consisting of cerium, gold, lanthanum, iron, manganese, nickel, palladium, platinum, and vanadium, the solution being formed at a predetermined concentration of the first metal cations and with or without heating the aqueous solution above room temperature; and (ii) mixing powder particles consisting of an elemental second metal, having a greater reduction potential than the first metal, with the aqueous solution in an amount that reacts and dissolves all of the second metal and precipitates particles consisting of the first elemental metal as metal nanostructures, the second elemental metal being selected from the group consisting of aluminum, magnesium, and manganese, the powder particles of the elemental second metal having particle sizes greater than one micrometer and being used in a less than stoichiometric amount for the reduction and precipitation of all of the first metal in the aqueous solution, the temperature and concentration of the aqueous solution and the selection of the associated anion and the second metal producing the metal nanostructures; and the method thereafter comprising separating the precipitate from the solution and confirming the presence of the elemental metal nanostructures.