Various Pt/Co nanoparticles were used as catalysts for CO
2 hydrogenation by J. Zeng, Z. Wang, and co-workers. As they describe in their Communication on
page 9548 ff., Pt
3Co octapods were the most efficient catalysts for this process owing to the presence of multiple sharp tips (the “sharp-tip effect”) and charge transfer between Pt and Co, which leads to the accumulation of negative charge in the vertices. Examples of the sharp-tip effect in the macroscopic world are lightning conductors with a sharp tip to attract lightning.