Two-dimensional (2D) materials have attracted increasing attention for photocatalytic applications because of their unique thickness dependent physical and chemical properties. This review gives a brief overview of the recent developments concerning the chemical synthesis and structural design of 2D materials at the nanoscale and their applications in photocatalytic areas. In particular, recent progress on the emerging strategies for tailoring 2D material-based photocatalysts to improve their photo-activity including elemental doping, heterostructure design and functional architecture assembly is discussed.

A novel porous nanoarchitecture composed of 2D graphene–SnS₂ (G–SnS₂) units is developed via a two-step approach in this work. The special structure endows the high-rate transportation of electrolyte ions and electrons throughout the electrode matrix, resulting in remarkable electrochemical performance when it was used as anode in lithium ion batteries.