A Calcination-Free Sol-Gel Method to Prepare TiO₂ -Based Hybrid Semiconductors for Enhanced Visible Light-Driven...

Invited for this month's cover are the collaborating groups of Dr. Jianwei Li at the University of Turku and Prof. Chunman Jia, Kang Yang and Dan Wei at Hainan University. The cover image compares the structure of calcined (left) and non-calcined (right) rutile TiO₂ doped with a molecule NA. The calcination process enlarges the pores in TiO₂ , reducing its surface area and hydrogen production efficiency under visible light. The "sad face" symbolizes the damaged pore structure. Conversely, doping TiO₂ with NA without high-temperature calcination forms a covalent bond, resulting in smaller pores, larger surface area, and improved hydrogen production efficiency. The "smiley face" represents the structurally intact TiO₂ hybrid material. More information can be found in the Research Article by Jianwei Li, Chunman Jia, and co-workers.