Galvanic replacement is the spontaneous replacement of surface layers of a metal, M, by a more noble metal, M noble , when the former is treated with a solution containing the latter in ionic form, according to the general replacement reaction: nM + mM noble n+ → nM m+ + mM noble. The reaction is driven by the difference in the equilibrium potential of the two metal/metal ion redox couples and, to avoid parasitic cathodic processes such as oxygen reduction and (in some cases) hydrogen evolution too, both oxygen levels and the pH must be optimized. The resulting bimetallic material can in principle have a M noble-rich shell and M-rich core (denoted as M noble (M)) leading to a possible decrease in noble metal loading and the modification of its properties by the underlying metal M. This paper reviews a number of bimetallic or ternary electrocatalytic materials prepared by galvanic replacement for fuel cell, electrolysis and electrosynthesis reactions. These include oxygen reduction, methanol, formic acid and ethanol oxidation, hydrogen evolution and oxidation, oxygen evolution, borohydride oxidation, and halide reduction. Methods for depositing the precursor metal M on the support material (electrodeposition, electroless deposition, photodeposition) as well as the various options for the support are also reviewed. 1. Principle of Galvanic Replacement/Deposition 1.1. Thermodynamic Considerations When a metal, M (e.g., Cu, Fe, Co, Ni, Al, etc.), is immersed in a solution containing ions of a more noble metal, M noble n+ (e.g., Pt, Au, Pd, Ag, Ru, Ir, Rh, Os, etc.-i.e., a metal with a higher standard potential) then, due to the difference in their standard electrochemical potentials, E 0 noble − E 0 > 0, and provided that the ionic form of M is stable under the given experimental conditions (of temperatue, pH, complexing agents etc.), the following reaction is thermodynamically favored and can take place spontaneously: M noble n+ + n/m M → M noble + n/m M m+ (1) This reaction, which bears similarities with transmetalation reactions between metal complexes [1] and is also known as immersion plating [2] in the plating industry and galvanic replacement [3] in materials chemistry, can be considered to originate from the coupling of the following two half-reactions: M noble n+ + ne − ↔ M noble (E 0 noble) (2) M m+ + me − ↔ M (E 0) (3)

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Wetting of carbon surfaces is one of the most widespread, yet poorly understood, physical phenomena. Control over wetting properties underpins the operation of aqueous energy-storage devices and carbon-based filtration systems. Electrowetting, the variation in the contact angle with an applied potential, is the most straightforward way of introducing control over wetting. Here, we study electrowetting directly on graphitic surfaces with the use of aqueous electrolytes to show that reversible control of wetting can be achieved and quantitatively understood using models of the interfacial capacitance. We manifest that the use of highly concentrated aqueous electrolytes induces a fully symmetric and reversible wetting behavior without degradation of the substrate within the unprecedented potential window of 2.8 V. We demonstrate where the classical “Young–Lippmann” models apply, and break down, and discuss reasons for the latter, establishing relations among the applied bias, the electrolyte concentration, and the resultant contact angle. The approach is extended to electrowetting at the liquid|liquid interface, where a concentrated aqueous electrolyte drives reversibly the electrowetting response of an insulating organic phase with a significantly decreased potential threshold. In summary, this study highlights the beneficial effect of highly concentrated aqueous electrolytes on the electrowettability of carbon surfaces, being directly related to the performance of carbon-based aqueous energy-storage systems and electronic and microfluidic devices.