Bismuth halide perovskites as photocatalysts for hydrogen production

Hydrogen is regarded as an ideal energy carrier and promising transportation fuel for the future. Currently, most hydrogen is produced through steam reforming of fossil feedstock, resulting in large amounts of CO2 emissions. Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution could provide a more sustainable option using sunlight as the energy source and water/acid as the hydrogen source. However, most photocatalysts suffer from an inadequate activity under visible light irradiation.
This work employs emerging bismuth halide perovskites as visible-light-driven photocatalysts for hydrogen generation from diluted acid. A new method was developed to solve the notorious instability of bismuth halide perovskites in water, and more importantly, efficient strategies to enhance the photocatalytic activities were proposed and proven.
It was found that the construction of heterojunction with molybdenum sulfide and interfacial modification can significantly improve the photocatalytic activity of bismuth halide perovskites in hydrogen evolution. The highest visible light photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate of 750 µmol g−1 h−1 among the bismuth halide perovskites was achieved with good long-term stability. This study will contribute to a rational design of a completely new class of halide perovskite photocatalysts for hydrogen evolution.