A water-stable organolead iodide material for overall photocatalytic CO2 reduction

The utilization of perovskites as photocatalysts to convert CO2 into fuels and chemicals has received wide attention recently. However, their instability in water hinders their long-term application for overall photocatalytic CO2 reduction. Herein, we integrate the water-stable perovskite-like organolead iodide crystalline material [Pb8I8(H2O)3]8+[−O2C(CH2)4CO2−]4 (TJU-16) with Au co-catalyst for photocatalytic CO2 reduction in aqueous solution without sacrificial reagent. Under the AM 1.5 G simulated illumination, the TJU-16 with 0.19 wt.‰ Au co-catalyst steadily generated electrons for CO2 reduction reaction, which was 2.2 times of pure TJU-16. The Au0.19/TJU-16 catalyzed CO2 reduction at a rate of 84.2 µmol·g−1·h−1, and achieved a solar-to-fuel (STF) conversion efficiency of 0.034%. Our work will motivate the rational design of water-stable perovskite-like materials for photocatalytic applications.