Structure and applications of titanate and related nanostructures

TiO2 has wide applications in areas like photocatalysis, environmental purification, gas sensor, high effect solar cell, etc. Nano-structured TiO2 is particularly interesting due to its large surface area. TiO2 based nanombes were first fabricated through a hydrothermal reaction between TiO2 and NaOH in 1998-1999 by Kasaki et al. Later, our group performed similar reaction at 130 degrees C and obtained large quantities of high quality nanotubes. Through a systematic structure analysis, the nanotubes were found to be scroll type trititanate nanotubes, instead of TiO2 nanotubes. The formation mechanism was studied both experimentally and through ab initio calculations. Since then, intense studies have been performed on the fabrication and the structure of titanate nanotubes and related nanostructures, such as titanate nanowires and nanoshects. These nano-structured titanate nanostructures have been found to have a wide range of application in many important areas. In this review, we summarise some recent achievements on the fabrication, the structure and applications of the titanate nanostructures.