The invention provides a photocatalytic material and a preparation method and application thereof. The photocatalytic material is mainly composed of nanometer titania and a gold nanorod, the nanometer titania is arranged at the two ends of the gold nanorod in a wrapping mode, and the middle of the gold nanorod is not wrapped by the gold nanorod and totally exposed, so that the photocatalytic material is of a dumbbell-shaped structure. In the dumbbell-shaped structure of the photocatalytic material, the middle of the gold nanorod is totally exposed, absorption of visible light of the gold nanorod is enhanced, the sufficient contact surface between the gold nanorod and gold nanorod is provided, most importantly, under irradiation of ultraviolet or visible light, by means of the structure, independent partition distribution of photogenerated charges can be achieved, high stability and a wider light absorption range are achieved, the preparation method is simple, the reaction condition is mild, environmental friendliness is achieved, and the photocatalytic material is expected to be widely applied to multiple aspects such as photocatalysis, solar cells and photovoltaic conversion and has wide application prospect.