TIO2 brookite: Properties, synthesis and applications

Brookite is one of the less studied polymorphic phases of titanium dioxide. Indeed, synthetic procedures affording brookite as a pure phase were not straightforward and have been only recently optimized. For this reason, brookite has received particular attention in the last years, especially as a promising photocatalytic material for environmental remediation and for the synthesis of valuable organic products. The present chapter will review the main synthetic methods reported in literature to produce brookite as a pure phase or mixed with rutile and/or anatase. Morphological, structural and electronic properties both of pure or variously modified brookite will be presented. The particular electronic and textural properties of brookite along with the possibility to obtain it in different morphologies justify the general interest of the scientific community for this material. Therefore, particular attention will be devoted in this chapter to some brookite applications in the field of photocatalysis, catalysis, solar cells, batteries and gas sensors.