Patent ID: 7632775

Claim:
A multicomponent nanoparticle containing material, comprising: a plurality of nanoparticles having a size less than about 100 nm on a support material, the plurality of nanoparticles comprising, a plurality of at least two dissimilar metal nanoparticle components, the metal nanoparticle components being selected from at least two different groups of the periodic table of elements; and wherein at least a portion of the plurality of nanoparticle components are bound to a multi-functional dispersing agent and have an arrangement determined at least in part by the multi-functional dispersing agent such that at least about 50% of the nanoparticles are multicomponent nanoparticles that include two or more different nanoparticle components within each multicomponent nanoparticle and so that the multicomponent nanoparticles form a Range of NR, excluding outliers, that is about 0.2 to about 5 times the value of NR avg , the multi-functional dispersing agent including individual molecules having at least two functional groups selected from the group consisting of functional groups having a negative charge and functional groups having one or more lone pairs of electrons; wherein the nanoparticles are formed using an intermediate component complex obtained by reacting together functional groups of the multi-functional dispersing agent and individual ions of the metal nanoparticle components, wherein the multi-functional dispersing agent comprises at least one member selected from the group consisting of glycolic acid, oxalic acid, malic acid, citric acid, pectins, amino acids, celluloses, polyacrylates, polyvinylbenzoates, polyvinyl sulfate, polyvinyl sulfonates including sulfonated styrene, polybisphenol carbonates, polybenzimidizoles, polypyridine, sulfonated polyethylene terephthalate, polyvinyl alcohol, polyethylene glycol, and polypropylene glycol, wherein the multifunctional dispersing agent binds the plurality of nanoparticles to the support material, which helps prevent agglomeration of the nanoparticles.