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Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is one of the most widely used nanomaterials in many emerging areas of material science, including solar energy harvesting and biomedical implanting. In this review, we present progress and recent achievements in the theory and computer simulations of the physicochemical properties of small TiO2 clusters, middle-size nanoparticles, as well as the liquid-solid interface. The historical overview and the development of empirical force fields for classical molecular dynamics (MD) of various TiO2 polymorphs, such as rutile, anatase, and brookite, are given. The adsorption behavior of solvent molecules, ions, small organic ligands, and biomacromolecules on TiO2 interfaces are examined with the aim of the understanding of driving forces and mechanisms, which govern binding and recognition between adsorbate and surfaces. The effects of crystal forms, crystallographic planes, surface defects, and solvent environments on the adsorption process are discussed. Structural details and dynamics of adsorption phenomena, occurring at liquid-solid interfaces, are overviewed starting from early empirical potential models up to recent reactive ReaxFF MD simulations, capable of capturing dissociative adsorption of water molecules. The performance of different theoretical methods, ranged from quantum mechanical (QM) calculations (ab initio and the density functional theory) up to classical force field and hybrid MM/QM simulations, is critically analyzed. In addition, the recent progress in computational chemistry of light-induced electronic processes, underlying the structure, dynamics, and functioning of molecular and hybrid materials is discussed with the focus on the solar energy applications in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC), which are currently under development. Besides, dye design principles, the role of anchoring moiety and dye aggregation in the DSSC performance are crucially analyzed. Finally, we outline the perspectives and challenges for further progress in research and promising directions in the development of accurate computational tools for modeling interactions between inorganic materials with not perfect structures and natural biomacromolecules at physiological conditions.

In order to develop approaches to predict the spectral properties of organic dyes for solar cells the test calculations of typical π-conjugated systems with various structural fragments, have been performed. Among the structural elements there are benzene, oxazole, oxsadiazole, thiophene and coumarin fragments. Nitro, methoxy, dimethylamino and diethylamino groups are substituents. According to the obtained experimental data, the diethylamino group at position 7 of the coumarin moiety gave the highest bato- and hyperchromic shifts of spectra. Experimental absorption spectra were measured in various solvents with different polarity. Among them are cyclohexane, dimethoxyethane, tetrahydrofuran, methanol, acetonitrile, and dimethylsulfoxide. It has been shown that there are no significant changes in the λ(max) absorption of coumarin-based compounds when the solvent is changed to a more polar one, but there is a noticeable tendency to increase the intensity of the absorption spectra. For the theoretical interpretations of electronic spectra absorption ab initio density functional theory (DFT) as well as semi-empirical methods (PPP/CIS, ZINDO/S, AM1/CIS) were used. In the DFT calculations the functionals B3LYP, CAM-B3LYP, M06-2x, PBE1PBE, wB97XD were used. A significant discrepancy in the estimations of electronic excitations is demonstrated by the DFT for the different functionals. It is concluded that DFT calculations should be performed by using both B3LYP and CAM-B3LYP (or M06-2x) functionals. Linear response theory has been used to evaluate the solvatochromic properties of π-conjugated compounds in the DFT frameworks. In general it was found that semi-empirical approaches especially π-electron method PPP/CIS and all valence method ZINDO/S can provide adequate estimations of excitation energies of π-conjugated dyes for moderate computer resources.