Bimetallic nanoparticles - novel materials for chemical and physical applications

A new class of materials for catalysis have been intensively investigated, that is, 'bimetallic nanoparticles'. Extensive studies of non-supported bim etallic nanoparticle dispersions, stabilized by polymers or ligands, starte d only about IO years ago. Many preparative procedures have been proposed, and detailed characterizations have been carried out on bimetallic nanopart icles, thanks to the sapid improvement of analytical technology on surface and nanoscale materials. In this review, we focus on the preparation, chara cterization and application to catalysis of polymer- or ligand-stabilized b imetallic nanoparticles in dispersion, emphasizing our own work and introdu cing recent progress of this area.