The atomic arrangement of titanium and oxygen on crystalline anatase TiO 2 formulates various facets, dominating the TiO 2 surface chemistry. Due to its unique surface atomic structure, TiO 2 with high-index facets has received great interest from a wide spectrum of science. Insights gained from the intricate link between the morphological modulation of anatase TiO 2 with distinct high-index facets and the properties of these modifications can expedite the rational fabrication of functional
Fundamental BackgroundTitanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) has attracted considerable attention ever since the pioneer study by Fujishima and Honda in the 1970s.[1] TiO 2 materials have wide-ranged applications in photocatalysis, photoelectrochemical cells, rechargeable lithium ion batteries, sensors, and dye-sensitized solar cells. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] All these applications are rooted in the distinctive physicochemical properties of these materials, [10][11][12] which are mainly influenced by the specific facets of the TiO 2 crystals. [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] Recently, high-index TiO 2 has been reported to exhibit unique properties with an advantage over low-index TiO 2 . The high-index facets are defined as a series of Miller indices {hkl} with at least one index being greater than one. [21] Nano-or microcrystals with exposed high-index facets are of paramount significance to both fundamental research and technical applications by virtue of their copious atomic steps, kinks, ledges, dangling bonds, and abundant unsaturated coordination sites. [5,14,[22][23][24][25][26][27][28] For instance, we observed that high-index {201} TiO 2 exhibited better adsorption and photooxidation performance than that of three low-index {001}, {100}, and {101} TiO 2 materials. [13] This observation is ascribed to the surface energy, which follows the order {201} (1.72 J/m 2 ) > {001} (0.90 J/m 2 ) > {010} (0.53 J/m 2 ) > {101} (0.44 J/m 2 ). [13,[29][30][31] {201} facets have more uncoordinated Ti atoms, facilitating the photogeneration of hydroxyl radicals. The surface energy and atomic structure of [a] 688 comprised spindles with stepped terraces at 1 h. The TEM images at 6 h (Figure 7c, d) reveal that the particle size increased with extending reaction time. It is noteworthy that the SAED and HRTEM images (Figure 7e, f ) further confirm that the TiO 2 nanorods were composed of {010}, {001}, {101}, and {103} facets. An extraordinary power conversion efficiency was observed for DSSCs assembled of these unique microstructures.