Publication date: 21st July 2025
Photoelectrochemistry (PEC) presents a direct pathway to solar fuel synthesis by integrating light absorption and catalysis into compact electrodes.[1-3] Among established light absorbers, metal halide perovskites have emerged as promising alternatives for solar fuel synthesis, enabling unassisted water splitting[4,5] and CO2 reduction to syngas.[6-9] Yet, PEC hydrocarbon production remains elusive due to high catalytic overpotentials and insufficient semiconductor photovoltage. Here we demonstrate ethane and ethylene synthesis by interfacing lead halide perovskite photoabsorbers with suitable copper nanoflower electrocatalysts.[10] The resulting perovskite photocathodes attain a 9.8% Faradaic yield towards C2 hydrocarbon production at 0 V against the reversible hydrogen electrode. The catalyst and perovskite geometric surface areas strongly influence C2 photocathode selectivity, which indicates a role of local current density in product distribution. The thermodynamic limitations of water oxidation are overcome by coupling the photocathodes to Si nanowire photoanodes for glycerol oxidation into value-added chemicals like glycerate, lactate, acetate and formate. These unassisted perovskite–silicon PEC devices attain partial C2 hydrocarbon photocurrent densities of 155 µA cm−2, 200-fold higher than conventional perovskite–BiVO4 artificial leaves for water and CO2 splitting. These insights establish perovskite semiconductors as a versatile platform towards PEC multicarbon synthesis.[10]