Spontaneous formation of size-selected bimetallic nanoparticle arrays

An original physical route is proposed to organize size-selected bimetallic nanoparticles on graphite surfaces. This approach is based on the soft landing of preformed clusters and is demonstrated for bimetallic AuxPt1-x clusters of different compositions. Particle coalescence is avoided thanks to cluster surface reactivity, leading to a self-assembly with a well-defined inter-particle separation (similar to 1 nm). (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.