Patent ID: 7910511

Claim:
A compound material that is composed of metallic nanoparticles deposited on the surface of a support, said metallic nanoparticles being obtained by a method, in which the support is at least one clay possessing a silicate network and selected from sepiolite and attapulgite, a metallic precursor is at least a precursor selected from salts, hydroxides and oxides of metallic elements, the metallic element is selected from metallic elements susceptible to reduction at temperatures below the destruction temperature of the silicate network of the clay, and wherein the method also comprises, an acidification stage of the metallic precursor, a deposition stage in which the precursor deposits on the support, a thermal decomposition stage, when the precursor is selected from salts and hydroxides, that is carried out under controlled atmosphere conditions in which the precursor is subjected to a decomposition treatment during which the precursor is transformed into an oxide of the metallic element, and a thermal reduction stage carried out under controlled conditions in which the oxide of the metallic element is subjected to a reduction process in order to obtain nanoparticles of the metallic element deposited on the support, the procedure is carried out at temperatures below the destruction temperature of the clay's silicate network and results in the obtaining of metallic nanoparticles with a particle size smaller than 30 nm.