In Situ Coating CsPbBr3 Nanocrystals with Graphdiyne to Boost the Activity and Stability of Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction.

Abstract

The instability and low inferior catalytic activity of metal-halide perovskite nanocrystals are crucial issues for promoting their practical application in the photocatalytic field. Herein, we in situ coat a thin graphdiyne (GDY) layer on CsPbBr3 nanocrystals based on a facile microwave synthesis method, and employ it as a photocatalyst for CO2 reduction. Under the protection of GDY, the CsPbBr3-based photocatalyst delivers significantly improved stability in a photocatalytic system containing water concomitant with enhanced CO2 uptake capacity. The favorable energy offset and close contact between CsPbBr3 and GDY trigger swift photogenerated electron transfer from CsPbBr3 to doping metal sites in GDY, boosting a remarkable improvement in the photocatalytic performance for CO2 reduction. Without adding traditional sacrificial reductants, the cobalt-doped photocatalyst achieves a high yield of 27.7 μmol g-1 h-1 for photocatalytic CO2 conversion to CO based on water as a desirable electron source, which is about 8 times higher than that of pristine CsPbBr3 nanocrystals.