Solvent assisted shape dependent MAPbI/polyfluorene heterostructures with a larger surface area for improved photocatalytic H evolution

• Published in: Energy advances 2024-12, Vol.3 (12), p.2965-2971
• Main Authors: Pal, Tamal, Bhowmik, Soumalya, Tanwar, Arvin Sain, Suhail, Ameer, Peela, Nageswara Rao, Sastri, Chivukula V, Iyer, Parameswar Krishnan
• Format: Article
• ISSN: 2753-1457
• DOI: 10.1039/d4ya00457d

Although lead based MAPbI 3 has been used as a material for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution, conventionally synthesized MAPbI 3 in HI solution suffers from very low HER activity with a hydrogen evolution rate of 30 μmol h −1 g −1 . Several efforts have been made to boost the HER performance by tagging a co-catalyst. But no such significant approach was developed to improve the HER activity of pristine MAPbI 3 . In this work, the shape and morphology of MAPbI 3 have been modified by a simple solvent change route. This led to substantial transformation in shape and morphology affecting various facets of photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical performance. DMF assisted pristine MAPbI 3 exhibited an HER activity of 830 μmol h −1 g −1 , almost 28-fold better than that of typical HI based MAPbI 3 . This work highlights how solvent transition from HI to DMF can influence the shape and surface morphologies which impact the photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical performances of pristine MAPbI 3 . To further enhance the HER activity of DMF assisted MAPbI 3 , the as-synthesized polyfluorene co-catalyst was integrated on the MAPbI 3 surface. Under optimized conditions, the hydrogen evolution of MAPbI 3 /polyfluorene composites can reach up to 6200 μmol h −1 g −1 . Although lead based MAPbI 3 has been used as a material for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution, conventionally synthesized MAPbI 3 in HI solution suffers from very low HER activity with a hydrogen evolution rate of 30 μmol h −1 g −1 .