The ability to control the morphology and phase structure of alloy nanowires is essential for the exploitation of their unique functional properties. This report describes the findings of an investigation of the growth mechanism in the electrochemically controlled growth of Au-Pt alloy nanostructures. By using a template-free alternating-current deposition method with different combinations of waveform, voltage, and frequency, controllability over the alloy morphology, composition, and phase structure has been clearly demonstrated for the growth of the nanostructures across the gap of two microelectrodes. The growth is proposed to involve an initial facet-selective nucleation-growth process followed by two competing nucleation-growth pathways that are highly tunable by the applied frequency and voltage. The findings provided new insights into the mechanism that underlies the controlled fabrication of alloy nanowires and nanodendrites with structurally tailorable functional properties.

A molecular dynamics simulation study has been performed for a large-sized system consisting of 106 liquid metal Al atoms to investigate the evolution characteristics of nano-clusters formed during rapid solidification processes. The cluster-type index method (CTIM) has been applied to describe the structural configurations of the basic clusters and nano-clusters. The results show that the icosahedral clusters (12 0 12 0) and their combinations play a critical role in the microstructural transitions. The nano-clusters are mainly formed by combining basic and medium sized clusters through continuous evolution. Their structural configurations are different from the multi-shell structures obtained by gaseous deposition, ionic spray, and so on. The central atoms of basic clusters composing the nano-cluster are bonded with each other, some central atoms are multi-bonded, and others single-bonded.

Nanostructures Nanostructures such as nanowires and nanodendrites are important structures useful for a wide range of technologies, including sensors, fuel cells, batteries, supercapacitors, and photovoltaic devices. In their Full Paper on , featured on the Inside Cover, Gang Yu, Bo Nian Hu, and Chuan‐Jian Zhong et al. report on the synthesis of gold–platinum (Au–Pt) alloy nanowires and nanodendrites with controllable composition, morphology, size, and structure from aqueous solutions using an electrochemically controlled template‐free method. Through this work, new insights into the growth mechanism of alloy nanostructures have been obtained, which involve an initial facet‐selective nucleation–growth process followed by two competing nucleation–growth pathways that were highly tunable by AC electric‐field parameters.