First-Principles Study of Formaldehyde Adsorption on TiO2 Rutile (110) and Anatase (001) Surfaces

This study investigated adsorption and reactions of formaldehyde (HCHO) on TiO2 rutile (110) and anatase (001) surfaces by first-principles calculation. The structure, vibrational frequencies, and electronic properties of the interaction system are studied to investigate the adsorption mechanisms of HCHO on TiO2 surfaces. It is found that HCHO can chemically adsorb on all surfaces to form into a dioxymethylene structure with O of HCHO bonding to a coordinatively unsaturated surface Ti atom (Ti4C or Ti5C) and C bonding to a surface O2C. The anatase (001) surface is found to be more active in HCHO adsorption with lower adsorption energy and larger charge transfer. In addition, the (1 × 4) reconstructed anatase (001) surfaces are found to have higher adsorption ability and more stable surface properties than that on (1 × 1) unreconstructed ones. These findings indicate that the (001) surface holds the potential for the improvement of sensitivity to reductive HCHO gas, in which the (1 × 4) reconstructed surface may play an important role for further improving gas-sensing properties of TiO2-based sensors while keeping the stability of them.