A selective etching phenomenon on {001} faceted anatase titanium dioxide single crystal surfaces by hydrofluoric acid

A selective etching phenomenon on {001} faceted anatase TiO2 single crystal surfaces by HF and associated etching mechanism are reported. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that HF stabilizes the grown {001} facets at low concentrations, but selectively destroys the grown {001} facets at high concentrations.