Well-defined and -structured Cu/Cu2O and Ni/NiO composite nanoparticles have been prepared by physical-vapor deposition on vacuum-cleaved NaCl(001) single crystal facets. Epitaxial growth has been observed due to the close crystallographic matching of the respective cubic crystal lattices. Distinct particle morphologies have only been obtained for the Ni/NiO particles, comprising truncated half-octahedral, rhombohedral- and pentagonal-shaped outlines. Oxidation of the particles in the temperature range 473-673 K in both cases led to the formation of well-defined CuO and NiO particles with distinct morphologies. Whereas CuO possibly adopts its thermodynamical equilibrium shape, NiO formation is accompanied by entering a Kirkendall-like state, that is, a hollow core shell structure is obtained. The difference in the formation of the oxides is also reflected by their stability under reducing conditions. CuO transforms back to a polycrystalline mixture of Cu metal, Cu2O and CuO after reduction in hydrogen at 673 K. In contrast, as expected from theoretical stability considerations, the formation of the hollow NiO structure is reversed upon annealing in hydrogen at 673 K and moreover results in the formation of a Ni-rich silicide structure Ni3Si2. The discussed systems present a convenient way to tackle and investigate various problems in nanotechnology or catalysis, including phase transformations, establishing structure/activity relationships or monitoring intermetallic particles, starting from well-defined and simple models. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.