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 bimetallic nanoparticle dispersions, stabilized by polymers or ligands, started only about 10 years ago. Many preparative procedures have been proposed, and detailed characterizations have been carried out on bimetallic nanoparticles, thanks to the rapid improvement of analytical technology on surface and nanoscale materials. In this review, we focus on the preparation, characterization and application to catalysis of polymer- or ligand-stabilized bimetallic nanoparticles in dispersion, emphasizing our own work and introducing recent progress of this area.