Is Photooxidation Activity of {001} Facets Truly Lower Than That of {101} Facets for Anatase TiO2 Crystals?

The effect of particle size and active surfaces on photoreactivity of TiO2 crystals is investigated in this report. The clarification of highly active surfaces is the key to understanding the photoreactivity of anatase TiO2 crystal and also to morphological control of photocatalysts with well-defined crystal facets. The anatase TiO2 single crystals with different percentage of {001} facets in uniform size, as well as anatase TiO2 single crystals with different particles size in same percentage of {001} facets, are synthesized by carefully controlling the synthesis parameters. Their photooxiation reactivity results indicate that the underlying dominant factor for photooxidation activity of anatase TiO2 crystals is particle size. The photooxidation activity of {001} facets is greater than that of {101} facets when the crystals size of anatase TiO2 is identical. This work would be beneficial for better understanding the different photocatalytic performance of different facets of metal oxide crystals in photoreactivity processes.