@article{Liu2026, 
author = {Qidong Liu and Yihe Yin and Yan Xu and Xiaota Cheng and Xia Yin and Yi-Tao Liu and Bin Ding},
title = {Progress in TiO2 nanostructures for photocatalytic H2 production from water: materials modification, interfacial regulation, and systematic development},
year = {2026},
journal = {Nano Research},
keywords = {TiO2 nanostructures, photocatalytic H2 production, defect engineering, heterointerfaces, cocatalysts, immobilized photocatalytic systems},
url = {https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.26599/NR.2026.94909198},
doi = {10.26599/NR.2026.94909198},
abstract = {Titanium dioxide (TiO2) has long served as both a model photocatalyst and an interfacial scaffold for photocatalytic H2 production because of its stable oxide lattice, well-defined band structure, and tunable nanoscale morphology. In this review, sacrificial H2 evolution denotes reduction-side H2 generation assisted by a hole scavenger; photoreforming couples organic-substrate oxidation with H2 generation and may derive hydrogen from water, the substrate, or both; and overall water splitting (OWS) uses water as the sole redox substrate and requires simultaneous H2 and O2 evolution near a 2:1 molar ratio. TiO2-based systems now emphasize coupled control of absorption states, directional charge migration, atomic- or nanoscale reaction sites, and immobilized mass-transfer architectures. Their principal losses arise from insufficient light absorption, carrier recombination, HER/OER kinetic mismatch, H2/O2 back reaction, bubble retention, and gas management. This review evaluates doping and defect engineering, sensitized absorption, crystal-phase and facet regulation, heterointerfaces, cocatalysts, and nanofiber or immobilized structures through linked criteria: effective absorption, directional migration, HER/OER closure, gas desorption and recovery, long-term stability, and reaction-boundary consistency. The resulting framework uses evidence strength to interpret performance across different reaction regimes.}
}