Fundamentals of TiO2 Photocatalysis: Concepts, Mechanisms, and Challenges. Issue 50 (18th August 2019) - Guo, Qing
Abstract: Photocatalysis has been widely applied in various areas, such as solar cells, water splitting, and pollutant degradation. Therefore, the photochemical mechanisms and basic principles of photocatalysis, especially TiO2 photocatalysis, have been extensively investigated by various surface science methods in the last decade, aiming to provide important information for TiO2 photocatalysis under real environmental conditions. Recent progress that provides fundamental insights into TiO2 photocatalysis at a molecular level is highlighted. Insights into the structures of TiO2 and the basic principles of TiO2 photocatalysis are discussed first, which provides the basic concepts of TiO2 photocatalysis. Following this, details of the photochemistry of three important molecules (oxygen, water, methanol) on the model TiO2 surfaces are presented, in an attempt to unravel the relationship between charge/energy transfer and bond breaking/forming in TiO2 photocatalysis. Lastly, challenges and opportunities of the mechanistic studies of TiO2 photocatalysis at the molecular level are discussed briefly, as well as possible photocatalysis models. Abstract : The basic principles and fundamental processes of TiO2 photocatalysis are highlighted. Recent progress made on the studies of the nature of TiO2 photocatalysis, in particular whether photocatalytic reactions are driven by separated charges or by energy produced via nonadiabatic exciton decay or nonadiabatic charge recombination, is summarized and discussed in detail.