The present invention relates to methods of immobilising metals on polymeric surfaces using surfactants and to products that can be formed by such methods. Polymer substrates with metal immobilised on the surface are very useful in a variety of applications. The metal is usually in the form of a nanoparticle. A major use of the invention is in catalysts. The invention can also be used in medical applications, such as to make antimicrobial surfaces.

A versatile, highly scalable single step method is provided for depositing a metallic Pd film from low temperature combustion of an aqueous solution. By using only palladium nitrate and glycine as precursors, water as a solvent, mirror-bright dense Pd films with high crystallinity and good adhesion can be deposited at 250 C. on different substrates without subsequent annealing. The technique can be used to form a reusable catalytic flask as illustrated by the Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reaction, where the Pd film uniformly covers the inner walls of the flask and eliminates the catalyst separation step.