Langmuir, Vol.26, No.5, 3031-3039, 2010
Design, Fabrication, and Modification of Nanostructured Semiconductor Materials for Environmental and Energy Applications
Considerable effort has been made to design, fabricate, and manipulate nanostructured materials by innovative approaches. The precise control of nanoscale structures will pave the way not only for elucidating unique size/shape-dependent physicochemical properties but also Cor realizing new applications in science and technology. Nanotechnology offers unprecedented opportunities for improving our daily lives and the environment in which we live. This review mainly describes our recent progress in the design, fabrication, and modification of nanostructured semiconductor materials for environmental applications. Their potential applications in the field of energy are briefly introduced. The scope of this article covers it variety of semiconductor materials. focusing particularly on TiO2-based nanostructures (e.g., pure. doped, coupled, nanoporous, mesoporous, hierarchically Porous, and ordered mesoporous TiO2). The preparation of nanoparticles, hierarchical nanoarchitectures, thin films, and single crystals by sol-gel, microemulsion, hydrothermal, sonochemical, microwave, photochemical, and nanocasting methods is discussed.