A Critical Review of the Use of Bismuth Halide Perovskites for CO2 Photoreduction: Stability Challenges and Strategies Implemented

Abstract

Inspired by natural photosynthesis, the photocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) stands as a viable strategy for the production of solar fuels to mitigate the high dependence on highly polluting fossil fuels, as well as to decrease the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. The design of photocatalytic materials is crucial to ensure high efficiency of the CO2RR process. So far, perovskite materials have shown high efficiency and selectivity in CO2RR to generate different solar fuels. Particularly, bismuth halide perovskites have gained much attention due to their higher absorption coefficients, their more efficient charge transfer (compared to oxide perovskites), and their required thermodynamic potential for CO2RR. Moreover, these materials represent a promising alternative to the highly polluting lead halide perovskites. However, despite all the remarkable advantages of bismuth halide perovskites, their use has been limited, owing to instability concerns. As a consequence, recent reports have offered solutions to obtain structures highly stable against oxygen, water, and light, promoting the formation of solar fuels with promising efficiency for CO2RR. Thus, this review analyzes the current state of the art in this field, particularly studies about stability strategies from intrinsic and extrinsic standpoints. Lastly, we discuss the challenges and opportunities in designing stable bismuth halide perovskites, which open new opportunities for scaling up the CO2RR.

Cs3Bi2Br9/g-C3N4 Direct Z-Scheme Heterojunction for Enhanced Photocatalytic Reduction of CO2 to CO

“…Different semiconductors such as TiO 2 , ZnO, SiC, and WO 3 have been explored throughout the years for photocatalytic CO 2 RR under a variety of conditions . Recently, halide perovskites are seen as promising candidates for photocatalytic CO 2 reduction due to their light harvesting capability, efficient charge generation, long carrier diffusion lengths, and a band structure aligned with CO 2 redox potentials . Among the different atomic combinations that form the ABX 3 perovskite structure (A and B as organic or inorganic cations and X as an anionic halide), halide perovskites with lead (Pb) in the B-site have received much attention in the photocatalytic field due to their wide utilization in solar cells. , …”

“…1 Recently, halide perovskites are seen as promising candidates for photocatalytic CO 2 reduction due to their light harvesting capability, efficient charge generation, 2 long carrier diffusion lengths, 3 and a band structure aligned with CO 2 redox potentials. 4 Among the different atomic combinations that form the ABX 3 perovskite structure (A and B as organic or inorganic cations and X as an anionic halide), halide perovskites with lead (Pb) in the B-site have received much attention in the photocatalytic field due to their wide utilization in solar cells. 5,6 Currently, the most heavily researched lead halide perovskites are CsPbBr 3 or CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 owing to their abundant elements.…”

Controllable Fabrication of Zn2+ Self-Doped TiO2 Tubular Nanocomposite for Highly Efficient Water Treatment

“…1D semiconducting nanomaterials consist of nanotubes, nanowires, and nanorods and are important in the current nanotechnology [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ]. They have great potential in various applications, such as sensing, conversion of solar energy, photodetectors, batteries, photocatalysis, and light waveguides [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ]. TiO 2 is a photocatalyst which may be utilized for contaminants remediation, hydrogen production from splitting of water and transformation of organic compounds [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ].…”

A versatile approach for the immobilization of lead-free Cs3Bi2I9 perovskites for photocatalytic CO2 reduction

“…Lead-free bismuth halide perovskites represent one of the most promising (and non-toxic) candidates for CO 2 reduction to generate solar fuels [1][2][3][4]. The general formula of this family is A 3 Bi 2 X 9 (A=K + , Rb + , Cs + , or methylammonium MA + and X=I, Br, or Cl), which can crystallize as a 2D defectlayered structure (for A=K + and Rb + ) of corner-connected Bi-I octahedra and zero-dimensional structure formed of isolated Bi 2 I 9 3face-sharing Bi-I octahedra (for A=Cs + and MA + ) [1,5].…”

“…HCOOH, CO, HCOH, CH 3 OH, C 2 H 5 OH, C 2 H 4 , C 2 H 6 , and CH 4 [3]. However, only CO and CH 4 have been reported using Cs 3 Bi 2 I 9 photocatalysts [4]. Thus, it results of interest to explore the possibility of generating alternative liquid solar fuels using Cs 3 Bi 2 I 9 photocatalysts, e.g.…”