Structure design, controllable synthesis, and application of metal-semiconductor heterostructure nanoparticles

Metal-semiconductor heterostructure nanoparticles (NPs) have attracted much interest and extensively been investigated due to their promising potentials in the fields of catalysis, energy conversion and storage . Due to the synergistic effect and coupling effect between metal and semiconductor, designing and controlling the interface structure of metal-semiconductor NPs and understanding the structure-property relationship have great significance for optimizing their physicochemical performances. Metal NPs coupled with semiconductors forming several kinds of interface structures, including core-shell, yolk-shell, Janus and oligomer-like structures are summarized in this review. The controllable synthesis methods to obtain metal-semiconductor heterostructure NPs with fantastic properties are presented in detail. Moreover, the structure-property relationship and their applications in the fields of catalysis, energy conversion and storage are also exhibited. A brief outlook is given on the challenges and possible solutions in future development of metal-semiconductor NPs.