Construction of Single-Crystalline Prussian Blue Analog Hollow Nanostructures with Tailorable Topologies

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. Engineering complex nanostructures with topologically intricate architectures is of great interest for chemists and materials scientists because such structures often manifest unique properties. This is particularly true for functional coordination polymers (CPs) because of the daunting synthetic challenge. Here, we demonstrate a strategy for constructing single-crystalline complex Prussian blue analogs (PBAs), a representative of CPs, with hollow structures and tailorable topologies. As an attempt, the topologies are also identified and discussed. After the thermal treatment in air, the PBAs are further transformed to mixed oxides with preserved structures, which manifest enhanced and structure-dependent electrocatalytic activity for the oxygen evolution reaction. Our work may shed new light on topology in chemistry and materials science for not only realizing a generalized synthesis of different topological nanostructures but also recognizing their topology-dependent properties. A generalized strategy is developed for the synthesis of Co-Fe PBA hollow nanostructures with diverse topologies. After thermal annealing, the derived mixed oxides with preserved nanostructures exhibit efficient electrocatalytic performance and structure-dependent properties for the oxygen evolution reaction in alkaline medium. © 2018 Elsevier Inc.