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Despite remarkable progress, colloidal synthesis of metal nanocrystal is still far away from reaching the goal for robust, reproducible, and scalable production. Even with the adoption of seed-mediated growth, the synthesis can still be complicated by issues such as self-nucleation, galvanic replacement, stochastic symmetry reduction, and unwanted compositional variation. All these issues can be addressed by switching to steady-state synthesis characterized by a slow, constant, and tightly controlled reduction rate. Steady-state synthesis can be achieved by adding one reactant dropwise while using the other reactant in large excess, but this method is not suitable for scale-up production in a continuous flow reactor. There is a pressing need to develop alternative methods capable of establishing the steady-state kinetics characteristic of dropwise addition while introducing both reactants by one-shot injection. In this Perspective, we discuss a number of methods that allow for both one-shot injection and steady-state synthesis. 

Abstract Shape control has been a major theme of nanocrystal research in terms of synthesis, property tailoring, and optimization of performance in a variety of applications. Among the possible shapes, bipyramids are unique owing to their symmetry, planar defects, and exposed facets. In this article, we focus on the colloidal synthesis of noble‐metal nanocrystals featuring a triangular bipyramidal shape, together with highlights of their properties and applications. We start with a brief discussion of the general classification and requirements for the nucleation and growth of bipyramidal nanocrystals, followed by specific aspects regarding the synthetic methods with a focus on the roles of reduction, etching, and capping, as well as controls of facet, size, aspect ratio, and corner truncation. In the end, we illustrate how these aspects affect the properties of bipyramidal nanocrystals for plasmonic and catalytic applications, together with future perspectives. 

Abstract Noble‐metal nanoboxes offer an attractive form of nanomaterials for catalytic applications owing to their open structure and highly efficient use of atoms. Herein, we report the facile synthesis of Ag−Ru core−shell nanocubes and then Ru nanoboxes with a hexagonal close‐packed(hcp) structure, as well as evaluation of their catalytic activity toward a model hydrogenation reaction. By adding a solution of Ru(acac)₃in ethylene glycol (EG) dropwise to a suspension of silver nanocubes in EG at 170 °C, Ru atoms are generated and deposited onto the entire surface of a nanocube. As the volume of the Ru^IIIprecursor is increased, Ru atoms are also produced through a galvanic replacement reaction, generating Ag−Ru nanocubes with a hollow interior. The released Ag⁺ions are then reduced by EG and deposited back onto the nanocubes. By selectively etching away the remaining Ag with aqueous HNO₃, the as‐obtained Ag−Ru nanocubes are transformed into Ru nanoboxes, whose walls are characterized by anhcpstructure and an ultrathin thickness of a few nanometers. Finally, we evaluated the catalytic properties of the Ru nanoboxes with two different wall thicknesses by using a model hydrogenation reaction; both samples showed excellent performance.