Bimetallic nanoalloy composite

A method of making a bimetallic nanoalloy composite, comprising:

• mixing and dissolving a nickel salt, a cobalt salt and an aromatic carboxylic acid in a first solvent to form a first mixture;
• mixing acetic acid with the first mixture and heating at a temperature of 150 to 200 degrees Celsius (° C.) form a second mixture;
• washing the second mixture with at least one organic solvent and drying to form a bimetallic metal-organic framework (CoNiBTC);
• heating the CoNiBTC at a temperature of 600 to 900° C. under a nitrogen stream to form a pyrolyzed composite;
• cooling the pyrolyzed composite and exposing to a gas mixture to form the bimetallic nanoalloy composite, wherein the bimetallic nanoalloy composite is in the form of bimetallic nanoalloy composite particles comprising cobalt nanoparticles, nickel nanoparticles and porous carbon layers;
• wherein the cobalt nanoparticles present in the bimetallic nanoalloy composite have an average particle size of 5 to 50 nanometers (nm);
• wherein the nickel nanoparticles present in the bimetallic nanoalloy composite have an average particle size of 5 to 50 nm;
• and
• wherein the nanoparticles of cobalt and nickel are embedded in the porous carbon layers of the bimetallic nanoalloy composite, and are uniformly distributed throughout the bimetallic nanoalloy composite.