The Role of Surface Termination in Halide Perovskites for Efficient Photocatalytic Synthesis

Article abstract of DOI:10.1002/anie.202002939

Halide perovskites have received attention in the field of photocatalysis owing to their excellent optoelectronic properties. However, the semiconductor properties of halide perovskite surfaces and the influence on photocatalytic performance have not been systematically clarified. Now, the conversion of triose (such as 1,3-dihydroxyacetone (DHA)) is employed as a model reaction to explore the surface termination of MAPbI₃. By rational design of the surface termination for MAPbI₃, the production rate of butyl lactate is substantially improved to 7719 μg g^?1 cat. h^?1 under visible-light illumination. The MAI-terminated MAPbI₃ surface governs the photocatalytic performance. Specially, MAI-terminated surface is susceptible to iodide oxidation, which thus promotes the exposure of Pb^II as active sites for this photocatalysis process. Moreover, MAI-termination induces a p-doping effect near the surface for MAPbI₃, which facilitates carrier transport and thus photosynthesis.