Enhancing the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution activity of hybrid perovskite via coupling molybdenum phosphide cocatalyst.

Organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites like methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3) have received extensive attention in solar energy conversion due to their superb optoelectronic properties. However, the serious charge recombination at the nanoscale domain and the lack of catalytic sites on the perovskite's surface seriously limit their photocatalytic hydrogen evolution activities. Taking MAPbI3 as a typical example, we show that coupling amorphous molybdenum phosphide (MoP) cocatalyst with MAPbI3 can significantly enhance the photocatalytic H2 evolution performance of MAPbI3. The MoP coupling can accelerate the electron extraction from MAPbI3 and promote the hydrogen evolution reaction catalysis. Consequently, the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution activity of MoP/MAPbI3 is ca. 97 times higher than that of bare MAPbI3. Moreover, the MoP/MAPbI3 exhibits good stability during cycling tests. This work demonstrates the possibility of employing amorphous MoP as a non-noble metal-based cocatalyst in a hybrid perovskite-based photocatalytic hydrogen production reaction. Methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3) loaded with molybdenum phosphide (MoP) cocatalyst demonstrates 97 times higher photocatalytic hydrogen evolution activity than bare MAPbI3 from HI splitting reaction under visible light irradiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]