Engineering complex nanostructures, particularly topologically intricate architectures, represents an appealing challenge for chemists and material scientists because such structures often manifest unique properties. Here, we demonstrate the versatility of a self-templated epitaxial growth strategy for construction of single-crystalline hollow nanostructured Prussian blue analogs (PBAs). Specifically, this strategy enables a controllable synthesis of Co-Fe PBA cages, frames, and boxes with diverse geometries by tuning their growth kinetics and thus expands the richness of their topological complexity. As an attempt, the topologies of these structures are identified and discussed. After thermal treatment, the corresponding oxide derivatives with preserved structures exhibit enhanced electrocatalytic activity for the oxygen evolution reaction in alkaline medium, where the frame structures demonstrate the best catalytic performance. Our work may further advance the topology in chemistry and materials science for realizing not only the geometries of the nanostructures but also their topology-dependent catalytic properties.

工程复杂的纳米结构，特别是拓扑复杂的结构，对于化学家和材料科学家而言是一个吸引人的挑战，因为此类结构通常表现出独特的性能。在这里，我们展示了用于构建单晶空心纳米结构普鲁士蓝类似物（PBA）的自模板外延生长策略的多功能性。具体而言，此策略可通过调整生长动力学来控制具有不同几何形状的Co-Fe PBA笼，框架和盒子的可控合成，从而扩展了拓扑复杂性的丰富性。作为尝试，确定并讨论了这些结构的拓扑。热处理后 相应的具有保留结构的氧化物衍生物对碱性介质中的氧释放反应表现出增强的电催化活性，其中骨架结构表现出最佳的催化性能。我们的工作可能会进一步促进化学和材料科学中的拓扑结构，从而不仅实现纳米结构的几何形状，而且实现其拓扑结构相关的催化特性。