Ag nanoframes: controllable reduction of AgClxBr1−x nanocubesElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Experimental details, SEM images, TEM images, statistical charts and UV spectra. See DOI: 10.1039/c9cc02240f

The synthesis of Ag nanoframes is a great challenge due to the high reactivity of Ag. Here, we present a facile and simple method to synthesize Ag nanoframes using silver halide as the template. Our method to fine-tune the reduction rate allows us to control the morphologies from Ag nanoframes to nanocages and hollow nanoshells. These Ag nanoframes exhibited an excellent catalytic activity for methylene blue reduction. We have reported a new approach for synthesizing Ag nanoframes and achieved the morphological transformation by controlling the etching rate.