Advances in electrospun TiO2 nanofibers: Design, construction, and applications

One dimensional (1D) TiO2 nanomaterials, as one of the most important semiconductor materials, which have attracted much attention due to their unique structural feature, outstanding optical or electronic properties. Electrospinning is one of the most facile and highly versatile approaches to fabricate 1D TiO2 nanofibers (NFs) with high porosity, controllable dimensions, designed structures, and adjustable mechanics, which hold great promise in many areas including photocatalytic degradation, solar cells, lithium-ion batteries, water splitting, sensors, and catalyst supports. In this review, progress in structure/mechanics design, fabrication and multifunctional applications of electrospun TiO2 NFs are presented. The strategies to prepare electrospun TiO2 NFs with diverse structures involving porous, hollow, hierarchical, aligned, and 3D self-assembled nanostructures are introduced and analyzed. Moreover, the recent breakthrough in the construction of flexible TiO2 nanofibrous materials and corresponding deformation mechanism have been concerned. Furthermore, some achievements associated with the potential applications of electrospun TiO2 NFs in the areas of environmental remediation, energy, and sensors are discussed. Finally, a straightforward summary, main challenges and future outlooks about electrospun TiO2 NFs are proposed. It is anticipated that this review could provide guidelines for designing and constructing novel TiO2-based nanofibrous materials for advanced applications.