Patent ID: 7829141

Claim:
A supporting method for supporting a metal particle including at least two elements on a surface of a plurality of granular supports in a particle supporting apparatus, the granular supports being a particle-like support substance on which the metal particle is deposited, the supporting method supporting the metal particle whose particle diameter is smaller than an average grain size of the granular supports, the supporting method comprising: evaporating the elements by an evaporation source; holding the plurality of granular supports in a container; and rotating at least one of a stirring device disposed in the container and the container, the rotating including a stirring period in which relative positions among the plurality of granular supports are changed and a non-stirring period in which the relative positions among the plurality of granular supports are not changed, wherein the particle supporting apparatus comprises the evaporation source for evaporating elements to form an alloy particle, the container for holding the plurality of granular supports within the particle supporting apparatus so that a relative position among the granular supports is able to be changed, and a rotating device for rotating at least one of the container and the stirring device, and wherein the particle consists of a Pt—Ru—V—Nb alloy.