Patent ID: 8003707

Claim:
A method of preparing a metal-rich siliceous material, said method comprising: a) mixing one or more salts of one or more metals with a silicic acid solution to form a blend, said metals selected from the group consisting of: palladium, platinum, gold, aluminum, copper, nickel, iron, titanium, cobalt, and combinations thereof; b) adding the blend to a basic heel solution at a controlled rate to control colloidal silica particle size from about 1 nanometers to about 250 nanometers, said size depending on the controlled rate, to form colloidal silica particles in a suspension, wherein one or more of the colloidal silica particles includes incorporated metal particles, and wherein the incorporated metal particles are essentially homogenously dispersed within the colloidal silica particles; c) optionally concentrating the suspension; d) reducing the incorporated metal particles with a reducing agent to form a product; and e) optionally further processing the colloidal silica particles or the product.