Owing to their scientific and technological importance, inorganic single crystals with highly reactive surfaces have long been studied. Unfortunately, surfaces with high reactivity usually diminish rapidly during the crystal growth process as a result of the minimization of surface energy. A typical example is titanium dioxide (TiO2), which has promising energy and environmental applications. Most available anatase TiO(2) crystals are dominated by the thermodynamically stable {101} facets (more than 94 per cent, according to the Wulff construction), rather than the much more reactive {001} facets. Here we demonstrate that for fluorine-terminated surfaces this relative stability is reversed: {001} is energetically preferable to {101}. We explored this effect systematically for a range of non-metallic adsorbate atoms by first-principle quantum chemical calculations. On the basis of theoretical predictions, we have synthesized uniform anatase TiO(2) single crystals with a high percentage (47 per cent) of {001} facets using hydrofluoric acid as a morphology controlling agent. Moreover, the fluorated surface of anatase single crystals can easily be cleaned using heat treatment to render a fluorine-free surface without altering the crystal structure and morphology.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 20. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 21 November 2022.
All research outputs
#2,299,620
of 34,054,827 outputs
Outputs from Nature
#49,083
of 116,776 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#5,866
of 128,396 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Nature
#136
of 609 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 34,054,827 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 93rd percentile: it's in the top 10% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 116,776 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 95.8. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 57% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 128,396 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 95% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 609 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 76% of its contemporaries.
