The Science and Art of Carving Metal Nanocrystals

Oxidative etching is a powerful tool for carving out new designs in metal nanocrystals. In this issue of ACS Nano, Jin et al. demonstrate how this tool can be applied to the fabrication of Pd nanoframes by carefully balancing the rates of etching and growth during the excavation of solid nanocrystals. In this Perspective, we offer a brief overview on the evolution of oxidative etching as an alternative route to the facile synthesis of well-controlled metal nanocrystals, as well as an outlook into the future directions of the field.