We show that through strong ligand mediated interfacial energy control between Au seeds and the deposited Au, the non-wetting growth of Au on Au seeds led to the formation homometallic core–satellite nanostructures. To modulate the intraparticle plasmonic coupling between the core and the satellites, the number and size of the Au satellites, and their inter-island distances were continuously tuned by varying the growth kinetics. As a result of the precise structural control, the plasmonic absorptions of the core–satellite nanostructures were tuned from visible to near-infrared (NIR) spectral range, and the extent of spectral modulation (500–1300 nm) is among the best of the literature methods. This synthetic advance enriches the toolbox for nanosynthesis and points to a new direction in the exploration of sophisticated functional designs.

Hollow nanostructures with structural advantages have been widely exploited as catalysts in electrochemical reactions. However, there are only limited strategies for constructing hollow Pd-based nanostructures. In this work, Pd₄S hollow nanospheres (Pd₄S HNSs) are synthesized with a facile wet-chemical method via a self-templating process. Intermediate Pd-L-cysteine solid nanospheres (SNSs) were firstly obtained by the coordination of L-cysteine with Pd²⁺, and then in situ converted to hollow nanospheres in the following reduction process. The formation mechanism of the Pd₄S HNSs was studied, and the size of the Pd₄S HNSs can be readily adjusted by tuning the size of the SNSs. The hollow morphology would help the exposure of active sites and the prevention of aggregation during the catalytic reactions. As a result, the Pd₄S HNSs exhibit improved catalytic performances in the oxygen reduction reactions, with a half-wave potential of 0.913 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) and impressive stability in the accelerated durability test.