Uncontrolled growth of Zn dendrites and side reactions are the major restrictions for the commercialization of Zn metal anodes. Herein, we develop a TiO x /Zn/N-doped carbon inverse opal (denoted as TZNC IO) host to regulate the Zn deposition. Amorphous TiO x and Zn/N-doped carbon can serve as the zincophilic nucleation sites to prevent the parasitic reactions. More importantly, the highly ordered IO host homogenizes the local current density and electric field to stabilize Zn deposition. Furthermore, the three-dimensional open networks could regulate Zn ion flux to enable stable cycling performance at large current densities. Owing to the abundant zincophilic sites and the open structure, granular Zn deposits could be realized. As expected, the TZNC IO host guarantees the steady Zn plating/stripping with a long-term stability over 450 h at the current density of 1 mA cm À 2 . As a proof-of-concept demonstration, a TZNC@Zn j j V 2 O 5 full cell shows long lifespan over 2000 cycles at 5.0 A g À 1 .

Photocatalytic water splitting using solar energy has been widely studied as a promising method for clean energy production. Continued efforts have been made to enhance the performance of solar-to-fuel energy conversion. The introduction of localized surface plasmon resonance (SPR) has been proposed as a promising strategy to enhance the efficiency of photocatalytic water splitting. This review presents an overview of the recent progress in the development of plasmonic photocatalysts for solar water splitting. Plasmon-enhanced mechanisms, including hot electron injection, near-field effects, and light scattering/trapping, are discussed. Furthermore, recent relevant works to discuss the emerging strategies for efficiency improvement and better understanding of the mechanisms are summarized. Finally, the perspectives of plasmonic photocatalysts for water splitting and the possible research directions are presented and discussed.

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