Pursuit of optimal synthetic conditions for obtaining colloidal zero-valent iron nanoparticles by scanning pulsed laser ablation in liquids

•nZVI particles fabricated by Liquid-Assisted Pulsed Laser Ablation by target scanning.•In situ citric acid and PVP coating gives good dispersibility and low aggregation.•Alcohol density and surface tension govern NP size, while chain length productivity.•Core composition and crystalline order vary with laser wavelength and NP size.•Energy, width and especially pulse accumulation govern NP size and polydispersity.