Abstract
This study investigated the structural, morphological, and optical absorption of three separate perovskites (NaPbI3, CsPbI3, and LiPbI3) developed by a low-cost and massive hydrothermal production technique. For all samples, X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurement demonstrated the growth of perovskites in the hexagonal phase along (002) orientation. From the scanning electron microscope (SEM) analyses, the perovskites have mixed morphologies between nano/micro rods and nano/microdiscs. In the visible field, NaPbI3 demonstrated stronger light absorption than CsPbI3 and LiPbI3. The prepared perovskites were tested under visible light as working electrodes for water splitting reactions using Na2S2O3 electrolyte. With 2.76% at 405 nm, the NaPbI3 perovskite photoelectrode in accordance with its optical properties showed the highest incident photon-to-current efficiency (IPCE) among the studied perovskites. Also, the NaPbI3 perovskite demonstrated higher PEC performance with an H-2 production rate of 38 mu molh(-1) cm(-2) than many other reported perovskites. The studied perovskites have high stability and reproductivity for the photoelectrochemical H-2 production.