Solvothermal Synthesis and Photoreactivity of Anatase TiO2 Nanosheets with Dominant 001 Facets

Owing to wide-ranging industrial applications and fundamental importance, tailored synthesis of well-faceted single crystals of anatase TiO (2) with high percentage of reactive facets has attracted much research interest. In this work, high-quality anatase TiO (2) single-crystal nanosheets mainly dominated by 001 facets have been prepared by using a water-2-propanol solvothermal synthetic route. The synergistic functions of 2-propanol and HF on the growth of anatase TiO (2) single-crystal nanosheets were studied by first-principle theoretical calculations, revealing that the addition of 2-propanol can strengthen the stabilization effect associated with fluorine adsorption over (001) surface and thus stimulate its preferred growth. By measuring the (*) OH species with terephthalic acid scavenger, the as-prepared anatase TiO (2) single-crystal nanosheets having 64% 001 facets show superior photoreactivity (more than 5 times), compared to P25 as a benchmarking material.