Pb-Activated Amine-Assisted Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution Reaction on Organic-Inorganic Perovskites

We report here the reaction mechanism for explicit aqueous solvent quantum mechanics (QM) studies determining the energetics and reaction barriers for the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) on CH₃NH₃PbI₃ surface. We find that both the lead (Pb) atoms and the surface organic molecules play essential roles, leading to a two-step Pb-activated amine-assisted (PbAAA) reaction mechanism involving an intermediate lead hydride state. Both H of H₂ product are extracted from surface organic molecules, while two protons from the solution migrate along water chains via the Grotthuss mechanism to replace the H in organic molecule. We obtain a reaction barrier of 1.08 eV for photochemical generation of H₂ on CH₃NH₃PbI₃ compared to 2.61 eV for the dark reaction. We expect this HER mechanism can also apply to the other organic perovskites, but the energy barriers and reaction rates may depend on the basicity of electrolyte and intrinsic structures of perovskites.