Understanding the surface chemistry of TiO₂ is key to the development and optimisation of many technologies, such as solar power, catalysis, gas sensing, medical implantation, and corrosion protection. In order to address this, considerable research effort has been directed at model single crystal surfaces of TiO₂. Particular attention has been given to the rutile TiO₂(110) surface because it is the most stable face of TiO₂. In this critical review, we discuss the chemical reactivity of TiO₂(110), focusing in detail on four molecules/classes of molecules. The selected molecules are water, oxygen, carboxylic acids, and alcohols—all of which have importance not only to industry but also in nature (173 references).

The relaxation of the prototypical metal oxide surface, rutile ${\mathrm{TiO}}_2(110)1\times 1$, has been elucidated using quantitative low-energy electron diffraction. Successful structure determination entailed the development of adjustable parameter free self-consistent phase shifts, which provide a more reliable description of the electron scattering than traditional approaches. The resulting optimized structure is remarkably consistent with that emerging from recent state of the art ab initio calculations. Additionally, the impact of soft surface vibrational modes on the structure determination has been investigated. It was found that the soft surface mode identified in this study has no significant bearing on the interpretation of the LEED-IV data, in contrast to suggestions in the literature.