Semiconductor and Metallic Core-Shell Nanostructures: Synthesis and Applications in Solar Cells and Catalysis

Nano-heterostructures have attracted great attention due to their extraordinary properties beyond those of their single-component counterparts. This review focuses on a specific type of hybrid structures: core-shell structures. In particular, we present and discuss the recent wet-chemical synthesis approaches for semiconductor and metallic core-shell nanostructures, and their relevant properties and potential applications in photovoltaics and catalysis, respectively.