TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Method: The method (M1) further comprises: treating the noble-metal or non-noble transition metal structure having surfactants and/or capping agents on the surface of the metal structure with ozone to weaken an interaction of the surfactants and/or the capping agents with the surface of the metal structure; and washing the noble-metal or non-noble transition metal structure having surfactants and/or capping agents on the surface of the metal structure with an acid to weaken an interaction of the surfactants and/or the capping agents with the surface of the metal structure. The step of inducing the desorption of the surfactant, and/or capping agent by carbon monoxide adsorption on the surface of the metal structure comprises immersing the metal structure into a carbon monoxide-saturated solution for 10-60 minutes under ambient temperature and pressure. The step of stripping the carbon monoxide monolayer formed on the surface of the metal structure/nanostructure by electrochemical oxidation further comprises: immersing the metal structure/electrocatalyst having the carbon monoxide monolayer formed on its surface into an electrolytic solution; and applying a potential sweep of 1.1-1.3 V at 20 mV/second to oxidize the carbon monoxide monolayer. The step of treating the noble-metal or non-noble transition metal structure with ozone weakens the interaction of the surfactants and/or the capping agents with the surface of the metal structure while conserving morphology of the metal structure. The step of treating the metal structure with ozone further comprises: dispersing the metal structure in a solvent; and subjecting the metal structure in the solvent to a gaseous ozone for 5-40 minutes under ambient temperature and pressure. The metal structure is subjected to the gaseous ozone for 15 minutes under ambient temperature and pressure. The step of washing the metal structure with the acid further comprises: sonicating the metal structure in the acid for 10-60 minutes under ambient temperature and pressure; and refluxing the metal structure in the acid for 5-120 minutes under an elevated temperature and ambient pressure. The step of refluxing the metal structure/electrocatalyst in the acid lasts for 60 minutes under 50 degrees C. The step of inducing the desorption of the surfactant, and/or capping agent by carbon monoxide adsorption on the surface of the electrocatalyst further comprises immersing the electrocatalyst into a carbon monoxide-saturated solution for 10-60 minutes under ambient temperature and pressure. The step of forming the nanostructures further comprises: mixing a salt of a metal with a surfactant, and/or a capping agent in a solution to form a slurry; and adding a reducing agent to the slurry to form the nanostructures. The step of treating the metal structure with ozone further comprises: dispersing the metal structure in a solvent; and subjecting the metal structure in the solvent to a gaseous ozone for 5-40 minutes under ambient temperature and pressure. Preferred Components: The noble-metal structure comprises palladium, gold, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium, osmium, and/or rhenium. The non-noble transition metal structure comprises nickel, cobalt, iron, and/or copper. The electrocatalyst comprises palladium, gold, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium, osmium, rhenium, nickel, cobalt, iron, copper, and/or their alloys. The nanostructures comprise an activated crystal lattice made from palladium, gold, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium, osmium, rhenium, nickel, cobalt, iron, copper, and/or their alloys. The salt of the metal is nitrate, sulfate, chloride, acetylacetonate, ammonium hexachloroplatinate, and/or ammonium hexachloroiridate. The composite transition metal structure is palladium-platinum, palladium-copper, palladium-gold, platinum-iron, or platinum-gold. The composite transition metal structure comprises palladium-gold nanoparticles of formula (Pd1-xAux).x = 0.1-0.75.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Method: The step of forming the activated electrocatalyst further comprises: acid washing the electrocatalyst before inducing desorption of the surfactant, and/or the capping agent by carbon monoxide adsorption; and ozone treating the electrocatalyst before inducing desorption of the surfactant, and/or capping agent by carbon monoxide adsorption. The step of acid washing the electrocatalyst further comprises: sonicating the electrocatalyst into an acid for 10-60 minutes under ambient temperature and pressure; and refluxing the electrocatalyst in the acid for 5-120 minutes under an elevated temperature and ambient pressure. The ozone treatment weakens an interaction of the surfactants and/or the capping agents on the surface of the electrocatalyst while conserving morphology of the electrocatalyst. The step of ozone treating the electrocatalyst further comprises: dispersing the electrocatalyst in a solvent; and subjecting the electrocatalyst in the solvent to gaseous ozone for 5-40 minutes under ambient temperature and pressure. The electrocatalyst is subjected to the gaseous ozone for 15 minutes under ambient temperature and pressure. The step of inducing the desorption of the surfactant, and/or capping agent by carbon monoxide adsorption on the surface of the nanostructures further comprises: depositing the nanostructures on a surface of a carbon based electrode to form a uniform catalyst layer coating; and immersing the nanostructure coated carbon electrode into a carbon monoxide-saturated solution for 10-60 minutes under ambient temperature and pressure. The step of stripping the carbon monoxide monolayer formed on the surface of the nanostructures by electrochemical oxidation further comprises: immersing the nanostructures having a carbon monoxide monolayer formed on its surface into an electrolytic solution, and applying a potential sweep of 1.1-1.3 V at 20 mV/second to oxidize the carbon monoxide monolayer; or immersing the nanostructure coated carbon electrode with the carbon monoxide monolayer into an electrolytic solution, and applying a potential sweep of 1.1-1.3 V at 20 mV/second to oxidize the carbon monoxide monolayer. The step of activating the nanostructure further comprises: acid washing the nanostructures before inducing desorption of the surfactant, and/or capping agent, by carbon monoxide adsorption; or ozone treating the nanostructures before inducing desorption of the surfactant, and/or capping agent by carbon monoxide adsorption. The method (M4) further comprises: acid washing the nanoparticles before inducing the desorption of the surfactant, and/or capping agent by carbon monoxide adsorption; and ozone treating the nanoparticles before inducing the desorption of the surfactant, and/or the capping agent by carbon monoxide adsorption. Preferred Components: The surfactant is sodium dodecyl sulfate, octadecylamine, polyvinylpyrrolidone and/or oleic acid. In the method (M1) the capping agent is formaldehyde and/or halide. The carbon monoxide-saturated solution is a solution of perchloric acid with at least 2% carbon monoxide. The electrolytic solution is 0.1-0.2M sulfuric acid, or 0.1-0.2M perchloric acid. The ozone is a gaseous ozone which is produced by exposing oxygen in air to an UV light for 5-40 minutes. The gaseous ozone is an UV light-generated ozone. The acid is a glacial acetic acid. In the method (M2) and (M3) the capping agent is formaldehyde, halide, and/or carbon monoxide. The nanostructures have a morphology of a nanosheet, nanorod, nanoparticle, nanotube, nanowire, and/or core-shell nanostructure. The reducing agent is sodium borohydride or hydrazine. The solvent is an ethanol. EXAMPLE - 13 mg of Inorganic palladium nitrate, 0.4 g of octadecylamine and 60 mg of n-dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide in 7 ml of toluene were vigorously mixed to form a precursor mixture. The solvents were degassed by bubbling argon through them for at least 10 minutes before use. The mixture was brought under an inert atmosphere, and sonicated for 20 minutes. Then 13 mg of solid sodium borohydride was separately dissolved in 2 ml of deoxygenated distilled water, and the solution was added dropwise to the precursor mixture and stirred to reduce the palladium cations to form tetrahedral nanostructures. After 1 hour, the reaction mixture was diluted with 2 ml aliquots of 2 ml distilled water and 2 ml chloroform, resulting in the separation of the organic phase containing the alkyl amine-stabilized palladium nanostructures and aqueous phase. The black organic phase was isolated, diluted with 10 ml of absolute ethanol, and centrifuged for 10 minutes at 8000 rpm, resulting in the precipitation of a black solid. The black solid was subsequently washed several times with ethanol and allowed to dry in air. The residual surfactant was removed from the surface of the palladium catalyst by displacement of the surface ligand with carbon monoxide and then by carbon monoxide stripping. The electrode was immersed in a carbon monoxide saturated with 0.1 M perchloric acid solution under a carbon monoxide blanket for 30 minutes. The electrode was transferred to a fresh electrolyte, and the adsorbed carbon monoxide was stripped from the surface by a potential sweep of 0-1.1 V at 20 mV/second.