Jianpei Feng, Chun Hong Mak, Guohua Jia, Bin Han, Hsin-Hui Shen, Shella Permatasari Santoso, Ji-Jung Kai, Mingjian Yuan, Haisheng Song, Juan Carlos Colmenares, Hsien-Yi Hsu
To combat the energy crisis and environmental pollution, developing renewable energy technology such as hydrogen (H2) production is necessary. The sulfur–iodine thermochemical cycle has high commercial potential in conducting hydrogen iodide (HI) splitting for H2 generation, but it requires high-temperature conditions. In comparison, photocatalytic HI splitting of halide perovskites is non-polluted and low-cost for H2 production at room temperature. Herein, an in situ constructed multidimensional bismuth (Bi)-based 3D/2D EDABiI5/MA3Bi2I9 perovskite heterojunction is developed first by synergistically integrating dimensionality control with heterostructure engineering. Accordingly, the optimal EDABiI5/MA3Bi2I9 without any co-catalysts exhibits the H2 evolution rate of 213.63 µmol h−1g−1 under irradiation. Equally importantly, interfacial dynamics of solid/solid and solid/liquid interfaces play a crucial role in photocatalytic performance. Therefore, using temperature-dependent transient photoluminescence and electrochemical voltammetric techniques, it is confirmed that the exciton transportation of EDABiI5/MA3Bi2I9 is accelerated by stronger electronic coupling arising from an enhanced overlap of electronic wavefunctions. Moreover, the effective diffusion coefficient and electron transfer rate of EDABiI5/MA3Bi2I9 demonstrate efficient heterogeneous electron transfer, resulting in improved photocatalytic hydrogen production. Consequently, the in situ formation of perovskite heterostructures studied by a combination of photophysical and electrochemical techniques provides new insights into green hydrogen evolution and interfacial interaction dynamics for commercial applications of solar-to-fuel technology. © 2024 The Author(s). Advanced Energy Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.
School of Energy and Environment & Department of Materials Science and Engineering & Centre for Functional Photonics (CFP), City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, 999077, Hong Kong; Shenzhen Research Institute of City University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, 518057, China; Curtin Institute of Functional Molecules and Interfaces, School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, 6845, Australia; Materials Institute of Atomic and Molecular Science, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Xi’an, 710021, China; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, 3800, Australia; Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Widya Mandala Surabaya Catholic University, Kalijudan No. 37, East Java, 60114, Indonesia; Department of Mechanical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong; Key Laboratory of Advanced Energy Materials Chemistry (Ministry of Education), Renewable Energy Conversion and Storage Center (RECAST), College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China; Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics (WNLO) and School of Optical and Electronic Information, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road, Hubei, Wuhan, 430074, China; Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kasprzaka 44/52, Warsaw, 01224, Poland; Engineering Research Institute (In3), Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia, Medellín, 50031, Colombia