Controlling the shape of noble metal nanoparticles is a challenging but important task in electrocatalysis. Apart from hollow and nanocage structures, concave noble metal nanoparticles are considered a new class of unconventional electrocatalysts that exhibit superior electrocatalytic properties as compared with those of conventional nanoparticles (including convex and flat ones). Herein, several facile and highly reproducible routes for synthesizing nanostructured concave noble metal materials reported in the literature are discussed, together with their advantages over noble metal nanoparticles with convex shapes. In addition, possible ways of optimizing the synthesis procedure and enhancing the electrocatalytic characteristics of concave metal nanoparticles are suggested. Nanostructured noble metals with concave features are found to show better catalytic activity and stability hence improve their practical applicability in electrocatalysis.

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追求卓越：用于电催化应用的凸形与凹形贵金属纳米结构

控制贵金属纳米颗粒的形状在电催化中是具有挑战性但重要的任务。除了空心和纳米笼结构，凹形贵金属纳米颗粒被认为是一类新型的非常规电催化剂，与常规纳米颗粒（包括凸形和扁平形）相比，它们具有优异的电催化性能。本文讨论了文献中报道的几种合成纳米结构的凹形贵金属材料的简便且高度可重复的途径，以及它们相对于具有凸形的贵金属纳米颗粒的优势。另外，提出了优化合成工艺和增强凹形金属纳米粒子电催化特性的可能方法。