Illumination of air-free aqueous solutions containing sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) and poly(vinyl alcohol) with 350 nm light results in benzophenone ketyl radicals of the polyketone. The polymer radicals form with a quantum yield 0.02 and decay with a second-order rate constant 6 orders of magnitude lower than that of typical alpha-hydroxy radicals. Evidence is presented that the polymeric benzophenone ketyl radicals reduce Ag+, Cu2+, and AuCl4- to metal particles of nanometer dimensions. Decreases in the reduction rates with increasing Ag(I), Cu(II), and Au(III) concentrations are explained using a kinetic model in which the metal ions quench the excited state of the polymeric benzophenone groups, which forms the macromolecular radicals. Quenching is fastest for Ag+, whereas Cu2+ and AuCl4- exhibit similar rate constants. Particle formation becomes more complex as the number of equivalents needed to reduce the metal ions increases; the Au(III) system is an extreme case where the radical reactions operate in parallel with secondary light-initiated and thermal reduction channels. For each metal ion, the polymer-initiated photoreactions produce crystallites possessing distinct properties, such as a very strong plasmon in the Ag case or the narrow size distribution exhibited by Au particles.

Cross-linking of sulfonated poly(ether-ether)ketone-poly(vinyl alcohol) (SPEEK-PVA) materials yields flexible polymer films, possessing high light-sensitivity and ion-exchange capabilities. Adsorbed Ag+ ions are photoreduced in the film under illumination (lambda = 350 nm), leading to metal nanoparticle formation in places where the film has been exposed to the light. Nanoparticles form via reduction of Ag+ by the polymeric alcohol radicals, generated in the system as a result of photochemical H-abstraction from PVA molecules by the excited carbonyl triplet state of SPEEK. Use of the films for direct metal photopatterning is demonstrated.