Facet-Engineering of Materials for Photocatalytic Application: Status and Future Prospects

• The identification and characterization of specific facets are discussed. • The synthetic strategies of catalysts with specific facets exposed for photocatalytic reactions are summarized. • The facet-dependent photocatalytic performance is discussed. • Challenges and opportunities of facet-engineering for photocatalysis are presented. Facet-engineering and interface design can optimize physicochemical properties of micro/nanomaterials at atomic level making them promising applications in a variety of fields such as catalysis, gas sorption/separation and sensing, especially in photocatalysis. In this review, we summarize the recent progress of photocatalytic reactions including water splitting, carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) reduction, degradation and so on from the aspect of facet-engineering. The influences of low-index facets, high-index facets and mixed facets with surface heterojunction on the photocatalytic performance are highlighted, and the challenges and opportunities of the facet-engineering for photocatalysis are discussed. It is expected that this review can provide guidance for future development of facet-engineering for efficiently photocatalytic applications.