The continuously increasing level of water pollution released into the open atmosphere increases the energetic call for attention to industrialists and scientists due to its serious impact on the ecosystem. Several efforts have been made for the development of TNMs and used as photocatalysts for water purification. Surface-fluorination has been very much explored for modification of TiO2 via fluorine sources. Among various fluorine sources, HF has been widely employed to regulate synthesis reaction rate perfectively for the formation of different morphologies with improved properties, which are closely related to photocatalysis. In this comprehensive review, an extensive bibliometric survey is described, which presents valuable information through MS Excel and VOS viewer software. Several synthesis methods, parameters and characteristics are critically reviewed. The application of FM-TNMs in photodegradation is briefly reviewed. This review also discussed the influence of surface properties and active surface over separation of charge carrier and process modelling as promising strategies towards their global commercialization. © 2021 Elsevier Ltd