Since its commercial production in the early twentieth century, titanium dioxide (TiO2) has been widely used as a pigment1 and in sunscreens, paints, ointments, toothpaste, etc. In 1972, Fujishima and Honda discovered the phenomenon of photocatalytic splitting of water on a TiO2 electrode under ultraviolet (UV) light. Since then, enormous efforts have been devoted to the research of TiO2 material, which has led to many promising applications in areas ranging from photovoltaics and photocatalysis to photo-/electrochromics and sensors. These applications can be roughly divided into "energy" and "environmental" categories, many of which depend not only on the properties of the TiO2 material itself but also on the modifications of the TiO2 material host (e.g., with inorganic and organic dyes) and on the interactions of TiO2 materials with the environment.
展开▼
