Concave Cubic Gold Nanocrystals with High-Index Facets

A new class of gold nanostructures, concave nanocubes, enclosed by 24 high-index {720} facets, have been prepared in a monodisperse fashion by a modified seed-mediated synthetic method. The Cl⁻ counterion in the surfactant plays an essential role in controlling the concave morphology of the final product. The concave nanocubes exhibit higher chemical activities compared with low-index {111}-faceted octahedra.