TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Method: The particles in step (a) have a core and a porous shell, where the core is solid or porous core. In step (c), the graphitized particles are treated with an inorganic acid. In step (d), the graphitic mesoporous particles are impregnated with a solution of a salt of the catalytically active metal in an impregnation step, where the volume of a solution of the metal salt(s) is completely absorbed in the mesopores of the graphitic particles. In step (e), the graphitic mesoporous particles obtained in step (d) are subjected to a gasphase hydrogenation process. The obtained impregnated graphitic particles are further treated by ultrasonication for enhancing the dispersion of the metal precursor solution in the mesoporous graphitic particles and finally by drying the obtained particles under an inert atmosphere. The method comprises reacting at least one hydrolysable silicon compound in the presence of at least one pore-forming agent such as a hydrocarbon silicon compound to provide silicon dioxide precursor framework particles, drying the particles and calcinating to obtain porous silica particles, treating the porous silica particles with a solution of a metal salt as graphitization catalyst and adding a liquid graphitizable and polymerizable organic monomer and an initiator, subjecting the particles to a high temperature treatment graphitization process, subjecting the so-obtained graphitized particles to a desiliconization process by treating the particles with hydrofluoric acid or with sodium hydroxide solutions to dissolve the silicon dioxide and, optionally then with an acid to remove the graphitization catalyst, treating the hollow graphitic particles with a solution of at least one catalytically active metal salt, preferably via an impregnation step, subjecting the metal salt-loaded particles to a hydrogenation process with hydrogen, at an elevated temperature of 200-500 degrees C for 1-10 hours to remove any salt residue such as a hydrohalogenide, drying the obtained particles, and treating the obtained particles in a temperature of 600-1400 degrees C, preferably up to 1000 degrees C and in an inert atmosphere to modify the microstructure of the particles, to promote the confinement of the particles in the mesopore system of the support and to obtain thermally and electrochemically stable particles. Preferred Components: The core and/or the shell of the particles comprise a porous inorganic oxidic material such as silica and zirconium dioxide. The core and shell are composed of differing materials. The graphitizable organic compound is a radically, polymerizable hydrocarbon monomer or a mixture of organic reaction partners for building up a polymeric structure. The catalytically active metal nanoparticles are confined in the interconnected three-dimensional pore structure. The catalytically active metal salt is a binary or ternary combination of platinum with iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, ruthenium, palladium, gold, silver, tin, molybdenum, molybdenum, yttrium and scandium. The porous graphitic bodies are temperature stable up to 600-700 degrees C, have a BET surface area of less than 1000, preferably 1200-1500 m2/g, and a narrow pore size distribution of 2-6, preferably 3-4 nm. EXAMPLE - Solid-core/mesoporous-shell silica material (1 g) was impregnated with an ethanolic solution of iron(III) nitrate nonahydrate 2 M (0.8 ml) and dried overnight under air. A mixture of 0.37 ml of divinylbenzene (DVB) and 0.012 g of azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) was incorporated into the mesopores of the solid-core/mesoporous-shell silica via incipient wetness method under air. The resulting material was heated at 75 degrees C for 24 hours to complete the polymerization of DVB under air. The carbonization/graphitization of the polymerized DVB into the mesopores was carried out at 1000 degrees C for 4 hours under nitrogen flow with a heating rate of 5 degrees C/minute. The solid-core/mesoporous-shell silica template was dissolved using hydrofluoric acid 10% in water during 6 hours. After the removal of the hafnium remnant, the material was treated with an excess of concentrated hydrochloric acid to remove the iron. The material was washed four times with millipore water and once with ethanol. The washing process was carried out by centrifugation (14000 rpm, 5 minute) and redispersion assisted by ultrasound (5 minute) each one. Finally, the material was dried at 75 degrees C overnight to obtain hollow graphitic spheres (HGS). Chloroplatinic acid hexahydrate (66 mg) was dissolved in 0.17 ml of ethanol. The resulting solution was impregnated onto the HGS support, and the resulting impregnated solid was further ultrasonicated. Subsequently, the ethanol was evaporated under air flow at 100 degrees C during 1 hour in a glass tube furnace. Then the reduction step was carried out in the same glass tube furnace using a mixture of 30 vol.% hydrogen in air. The sample was then heated to 250 degrees C with a rate of 2.5 degrees C/minute and kept at this temperature for 3 hours. After the reduction was finished, the hydrogen flow was turned off and the material was thermally treated at high temperature 850-900 degrees C with a rate of 5 degrees C/minute under air during 4-10 hours.