Abstract
There is increasing interest in the role of metal halide perovskites for heterogeneous catalysis. Here, we report a Ge-based 2D perovskite material that shows intrinsic water stability realized through organic cation engineering. Incorporating 4-phenylbenzilammonium (PhBz) we demonstrate, by means of extended experimental and computational results, that PhBz2GeBr4 and PhBz2GeI4 can achieve relevant air and water stability. The creation of composites embedding graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) allows a proof of concept for light-induced hydrogen evolution in an aqueous environment by 2D Ge-based perovskites thanks to the effective charge transfer at the heterojunction between the two semiconductors.
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•Preparation of 2D Ge-containing metal halide perovskite•Demonstration of a strategy to induce air/water resistance by cation engineering•Strategy to create heterojunctions between Ge-perovskite and carbon nitride•Demonstration of active photocatalytic activity in hydrogen generation
Metal halide perovskite photocatalysis is widely studied in several applied fields. In this work, Romani et al. demonstrate 2D Ge-containing perovskite engineering to improve air and water resistance. Such characteristics are then exploited in solar-driven hydrogen generation in an aqueous environment.