Improving the Water Resistance of Bi-Based Perovskite-Inspired Materials for Vapor-Phase Photocatalytic Overall Water Splitting

Lead halide perovskites are well known for their exceptional photophysical and electronic properties, which have placed them at the forefront of challenging optoelectronic applications and solar-to-fuel conversion. However, their air/water instability, combined with their toxicity, is still a critical problem that has slowed down their commercialization. In this sense, bismuth-based halide derivatives attract much interest as a potentially safer, air-stable alternative. Herein, a novel Bi-based perovskite-inspired material, IEF-19 (IEF stands for IMDEA Energy Framework), which contains a bulky aromatic cation (1,5-diammonium naphthalene), is prepared. Additionally, an N-alkylation strategy is successfully employed to achieve four water-stable perovskite-inspired materials, which contains diammonium naphthalene cations that are tetra-alkylated by methyl, ethyl, propyl, and butyl groups. Moreover, computational studies are performed to gain a deeper understanding of the intrinsic structural stability and affinity of water molecules for Bi-based perovskite-inspired materials. Importantly, the air- and water-stable IEF-19-Et (i.e., stable at least 12 months under ambient conditions and 3 weeks in contact with water) is found to be an active photocatalyst for vapor-phase overall water splitting in the absence of any sacrificial agent under both ultraviolet–visible or simulated sunlight irradiation. This material exhibits an estimated apparent quantum yield of 0.08% at 400 nm, partially explained by its adequate energy band level diagram.