Morphology Control of TiO2-Based Nanomaterials for Sustainable Energy Applications

Abstract

TiO2-based nanomaterials (including layered titanates, H2TinO2n+1, which transform into TiO2 at high temperatures) have attracted much attention because of their fascinating characteristics relating to renewable energy and environmental applications. Recently, one-dimensional (1D) TiO2 nanomaterials, such as nanotube, nanowire, nanorod, nanofiber, have been investigated for electrode materials in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSC) to improve light-to-electricity conversion efficiency. These 1D nanomaterials are also applied for lithium ion or hydrogen storage, photocatalysts, multifunctional filter materials and so on. In this paper, our recent studies on 1D TiO2 nanomaterials, particularly on sustainable energy applications, are briefly overviewed. Some collaborative studies on TiO2 nanomaterials with French groups, i.e., Mines ParisTech (from 2006) and Strasbourg University (from 2008), are introduced. © Springer 2010.