Metal‐facilitated Photocatalytic Nanohybrids: Rational Design and Promising Environmental Applications

As a promising technique to potentially address the energy crisis and environmental issues, photocatalysis has been reported widely to exhibit various outstanding behaviors in production of new fuels/chemicals and treatment of contaminants. The photocatalytic performance is extremely dependent on the used photocatalysts, so that the design and preparation of efficient photocatalysts are critically important for significantly improving the photocatalytic activity. Among various strategies, the hybridization of metal with semiconductors has recently been attracting more and more research interest owing to their expended spectral absorption, promoted transferring rate of charge carriers and Plasmon‐enhanced effect. In this minireview, the metal‐facilitated hybrid photocatalysts are overviewed comprehensively to first reveal unique functions of metals in improvement of photoactivity and summarize the emerging metal‐involved hybrid systems. Subsequently, the synthetic methods towards hybrid photocatalysts are introduced and their practical applications are emphasized in environmental remediation including degradation of organic pollutants, conversion of harmful gases, treatment of heavy metal ions and sterilization of bacteria. At the end, the challenges for industrializing these hybrid photocatalysts are discussed carefully and future development is suggested rationally. Metal component in hybrid photocatalysts significantly improve their performance via the increased spectral absorption, promoted transferring of charges and Plasmon‐induced enhancement. This minireview comprehensively summarizes the metal‐facilitated hybrid photocatalysts including the unique functions of metals, the emerging hybrid systems, the synthetic methods toward photocatalysts and their practical applications in environmental remediation.