Generalized approach for the synthesis of silica supported Pd-Zn, Cu-Zn and Ni-Zn gamma brass phase nanoparticles

•Pd-Zn intermetallic γ-brass phase catalysts synthesized from Pd/SiO2 catalysts.•Synthetic parameters are optimized to reduce particle size to <10 nm.•Zn inclusion negates CO binding on Pd but hydrogenation activity is retained.•Approach extended to the synthesis of Ni-Zn and Cu-Zn γ-brass nanoparticles.