Spark ablation is a powerful method to manufacture metal nanoparticles. It is physical, dry, continuous, ligand-less, surfactant-less, and solvent-less. It can be used to create NP that are calibrated in sizde (typically 1-10 nm) and in composition (i.e. alloys). Until today, it has been used mostly to deposit nanoparticles onto flat surfaces, for various applications. For the first time, in collaboration with VSParticles, we have exploited it to prepare a powdery metal-based catalyst (Chem. Commun. 2024). 

To this end, a spark-ablation nanoparticle generator was coupled with a powder aerosol disperser (based on a vortex). As a first proof of concept, a TiO2 powder was aerosolized and injected close to the electrode of the spark ablation nanoparticle generator, to be decorated with Ni nanoparticles. The resulting Ni/TiO2 catalyst was shown to be readily active in the hydrogenation of CO2 to methane. The disclosed method avoids the use of expensive precursors, minimizing waste generation, and eliminating energy-demanding drying and calcination steps. As such, it opens new avenues for heterogeneous catalyst preparation/study, as it offers a straightforward, adaptable, and resource-efficient alternative to classical preparation methods.