Synthesis of ultrasmall, homogeneously alloyed, bimetallic nanoparticles on silica supports

Dispersing small, bimetallic nanoparticles For applications of nanoparticles in sensing and catalysis, smaller nanoparticles are often more effective because they expose more active surface sites. The properties of metallic nanoparticles can also be improved by creating bimetallic alloys, but typical synthetic methods yield larger nanoparticles where the metals are poorly mixed. Wong et al. show that well-mixed bimetallic ∼1-nm-diameter nanoparticles can be made on silica supports. To do this, they exploited strong electrostatic adsorption, in which the metal precursors are strongly adsorbed onto the surface by controlling pH relative to the surface point of zero charge. Their method was successful for a wide range of metal alloys. Science , this issue p. 1427