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Au nanoparticles epitaxially grown on Fe3O4 in Au (6.7 nm)-Fe3O4 dumbbell nanoparticles exhibit excellent stability against sintering, but display negligible catalytic activity in CO oxidation. Starting from various supported Au (6.7 nm)-Fe3O4 catalysts prepared by the colloidal deposition method, we have unambiguously identified the significance of the Au-TiO2 interface in CO oxidation, without any possible size effect of Au. In situ thermal decomposition of TiO2 precursors on Au-Fe3O4 was found to be an effective way to increase the Au-TiO2 interface and thereby optimize the catalytic performance of TiO2-supported Au-Fe3O4 dumbbell nanoparticles. By reducing the size of Fe3O4 from 15.2 to 4.9 nm, the Au-TiO2 contact was further increased so that the resulting TiO2-supported Au (6.7 nm)-Fe3O4 (4.9 nm) dumbbell particles become highly efficient catalysts for CO oxidation at room temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]