Patent ID: 8530370

Claim:
A composition comprising: a solid material, comprised of: a first metal/metalloid comprised of a metal or metalloid selected from the group consisting of Cu, Fe, Ag, Co, Ni, Mn, Zr, Zn, Sn, Re, Rh, Ru, Pd, Ir, Pt, B, Al, Ce, La, Pr, Sm, Eu, Yb, Lu, Dy, Pb, Cd, Sb, Ge, Ga, In, Bi, and Au; and a second metal selected from molybdenum, tungsten, or vanadium; where at least a portion of the solid material is comprised of the first metal/metalloid and the second metal bridged by, and bonded to, sulfur or selenium atoms according to a formula selected from the group consisting of formula (I), formula (II), formula (III), and formula (IV): where M is either the first metal/metalloid or the second metal; at least one M is the first metal/metalloid and at least one M is the second metal; and Q is either sulfur or selenium; where M is either the first metal/metalloid or the second metal, at least one M is the first metal/metalloid and at least one M is the second metal, X is selected from the group consisting of SO 4 , PO 4 , oxalate (C 2 O 4 ), acetylacetonate, acetate, citrate, tartrate, Cl, Br, I, ClO 4 , ClO 3 , and NO 3 , and Q is either sulfur or selenium; where M is either the first metal/metalloid or the second metal, at least one M is the first metal/metalloid and at least one M is the second metal, X is selected from the group consisting of SO 4 , PO 4 , oxalate (C 2 O 4 ), acetylacetonate, acetate, citrate, tartrate, Cl, Br, I, ClO 3 , ClO 4 , and NO 3 , and Q is either sulfur or selenium; where M is either the first metal/metalloid or the second metal, at least one M is the first metal/metalloid and at least one M is the second metal, X is selected from the group consisting of SO 4 , PO 4 , oxalate (C 2 O 4 ), acetylacetonate, acetate, citrate, tartrate, Cl, Br, I, ClO 3 , ClO 4 , and NO 3 , and Q is either sulfur or selenium; and where the solid material is comprised of particles and has a particle size distribution, where the mean particle size of the particle size distribution is from about 50 nm to about 5 μm.