Engineering the Surface/Interface Structures of Titanium Dioxide Micro and Nano Architectures towards Environmental and Electrochemical Applications

Abstract

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) materials have been intensively studied in the past years because of many varied applications. This mini review article focuses on TiO2 micro and nano architectures with the prevalent crystal structures (anatase, rutile, brookite, and TiO2(B)), and summarizes the major advances in the surface and interface engineering and applications in environmental and electrochemical applications. We analyze the advantages of surface/interface engineered TiO2 micro and nano structures, and present the principles and growth mechanisms of TiO2 nanostructures via different strategies, with an emphasis on rational control of the surface and interface structures. We further discuss the applications of TiO2 micro and nano architectures in photocatalysis, lithium/sodium ion batteries, and Li–S batteries. Throughout the discussion, the relationship between the device performance and the surface/interface structures of TiO2 micro and nano structures will be highlighted. Then, we discuss the phase transitions of TiO2 nanostructures and possible strategies of improving the phase stability. The review concludes with a perspective on the current challenges and future research directions.

Tunable syngas production from photocatalytic CO2 reduction with mitigated charge recombination driven by spatially separated cocatalysts

“…A hard-templating method (using SiO 2 spheres as templates and dividers to disperse small particles) was used to synthesize the MTCP-MSs. 14 , 17 , 26 – 28 Before the formation of the final structure, the catalysts mainly went through five stages with different morphologies. (1) SiO 2 –MnO x nanospheres (SM-NSs).…”

Facile Construction of All-Solid-State Z-Scheme g-C3N4/TiO2 Thin Film for the Efficient Visible-Light Degradation of Organic Pollutant

“…However, pristine TiO 2 photocatalyst has two intrinsic defects of a wide bandgap (3.2 eV) and the fast recombination of photogenerated carriers, which limits its widespread development. It is necessary to modify pristine TiO 2 to simultaneously satisfy the requirements for practical applications of photocatalytic techniques, such as intensive visible-light response, high photogenerated-carriers separation efficiency, good stability, and strong redox capabilities [7][8][9]. g-C 3 N 4 is a recently emerged nonmetallic photocatalyst with a narrow bandgap (2.7 eV), demonstrating prominent features such as a visible-light response, good chemical stability, and easy synthesis [10][11][12].…”

Radiocatalytic Cu-incorporated TiO2 nano-particles for the degradation of organic species under gamma irradiation

“…In this respect, the efficiency of TiO 2 catalysis needs to be further improved. Many strategies, such as doping [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18], co-doping [20,21], surface treatment [22], coupling with noble metal nanoparticles [23] or other semiconductors [24,25], synthesis of nanomaterials with different morphologies [26], have been tried over the last few decades, in order to reduce the electron-hole recombination rate and improve the photocatalytic efficiency of TiO 2 .…”