TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - CHEMICAL ENGINEERING - Preferred Process: The heat energy required for thermal treatment is transferred to the support material by radiation. The support material coated with the noble metal is continuously dispersed in an inert carrier gas stream (6) at 300-500 degrees C, passed through a heated reactor and, after leaving the reactor, is rapidly cooled and separated from the carrier gas stream. The inert gas stream and support material are cooled to below 500 degrees C by admixing an inert and cooled gas or mixture of gases with the carrier gas stream.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Component: The noble metals are gold, silver, platinum (Pt), palladium, rhodium, ruthenium (Ru), iridium, or osmium or their alloys which are deposited in the form of noble metal particles on a powdered support material. The support material is a carbon-containing material from carbon black, graphite, active carbon and fibrous, or graphitic nanotubes. It can also be an oxidic material from aluminum oxide, aluminum silicate, zeolite, titanium oxide, zirconium oxide, rare earth oxides, mixtures or their mixed oxides. The noble metals are alloyed with base metal(s) from titanium, zirconium, vanadium, chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, or zinc.Preferred Composition: The supported catalyst contains Pt (5-80 wt.%) on carbon black with a surface area of at least 40 m2/g. It also contains a Pt/Ru alloy (5-80 wt.%) on carbon black, and the atomic ratio of Pt to Ru is 5:1-1:5.Preferred Property: The noble metal particles have a relative degree of crystallinity of greater than 2 (preferably greater than 5) as determined by X-ray diffraction and an average particle size of 2-10 nm. EXAMPLE - A carbon black supported electrocatalyst (2 kg) (noble metal loading 26.4 wt.%, Pt and 13.6 wt.% Ru on Vulcan XC 72, atomic ratio Pt:Ru = 1:1 prepared in accordance with US6007934) was metered into a gas disperser (2) and finely distributed with nitrogen. It was transported into a reaction tube (4) in a stream of nitrogen pre-heated to 350 degrees C. It was cooled with nitrogen in a rapid cooling unit (8) and collected in a filter unit (10). The treated catalyst had high crystallinity and small particle size which exhibited very good electrical properties in PEM fuel cell or as an anode catalyst under both hydrogen/air and also reformate/air operation.