**First-Transition Metal Oxocomplex–Surface-Modified Titanium(IV) Oxide for Solar Environmental Purification**

Hiroaki Tada and Qiliang Jin

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/62008

## **Abstract**

The ongoing global energy and environmental issues warrant the development of envi‐ ronmental catalysts for decomposing pollutants in water and air by utilizing solar energy named as "solar environmental catalysts." This chapter describes the recent studies on a novel class of solar environmental catalysts consisting of TiO2 and molecular-scale firstrow transition metal oxide clusters (or metal oxocomplexes) on the surface (MOs/TiO2). The TiO2 surface modification with the oxocomplexes by the chemisorption–calcination cycle (CCC) technique presents a novel band engineering for fine-tuning the band ener‐ gy. The unique physicochemical and electronic properties of MOs/TiO2 give rise to the outstanding photocatalytic activity for the decomposition of organic pollutants. The com‐ bination with the rapidly growing technique for preparation of TiO2 nanostructures al‐ lows us to expect further improvement of the performances and the wide application to the solar chemical transformation for producing useful substances.

**Keywords:** Visible-light photocatalyst, Titanium(IV) oxide, Surface modification, Metal oxide cluster, Metal oxocomplex, Band energy turning, Solar environmental purification
