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Pollution and the rising energy demand are two major society issues, requiring urgent solutions. Here, we review the simultaneous production of hydrogen and removal of pollutants, with a focus on mechanisms, synthesis of photocatalysts, and applications. Remarkably, this method utilizes organic pollutants as sacrificial agents for photocatalytic hydrogen production, thus both reducing pollution and producing energy. Metal-doped, cocatalyst-loaded, organic and inorganic composite, heterostructure and heterojunction photocatalysts are described. We present applications to the removal of antibiotics and organic dyes. Pollutant degradation rates range from 5.3 to 100%, with hydrogen evolution of 13.7–2724.89 μmol·g–1h–1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Providing sustainable energy and cleaning water pollution are actually major societal issues requiring new catalysts. In particular, transition metal phosphides are emerging as effective photocatalytic materials. Here we review synthetic strategies for metal phosphides by various methods. We discuss passivation strategies for engineering electronic and structural properties of metal phosphide nanocomposites. Electronic properties, stability and activity depend upon the type of metal phosphides, either phosphorus-rich or metal-rich. Typically, a high content of phosphorous in metal phosphides improves the catalysis. The crystalline structure of metal phosphides also varies and depends upon their chemical composition. We present the latest developments in H2 production and photodegradation of aqueous pollutants using metal phosphide-based heterojunctions, with focus on type-II-, Z-scheme- and S-scheme-based heterojunctions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]