Lead Halide Perovskite Photoelectrocatalysis for Solar Chemical Synthesis

Virgil Andrei^a

^aSchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University,

Proceedings of MATSUS Fall 2026 Conference (MATSUSFall26)

E2 Solar fuels and chemicals: from devices to discoveries in unconventional environments

Palma, Spain, 2026 October 26th - 30th

Organizers: Franky Esteban Bedoya Lora, Katharina Brinkert and Anna Hankin

Invited Speaker, Virgil Andrei, presentation 376
Publication date: 22nd July 2026

Lead halide perovskites have emerged as outstanding alternatives for solar-driven chemistry, enabling bias-free photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) water splitting[1-3] and CO₂ conversion.[4,5] While perovskite semiconductors degrade rapidly in water, recent design principles have led to substantial advances in device stability and performance. Here, we will first discuss the role of charge selective layers in increasing device photocurrent and photovoltage, by fine-tuning the band alignment and enabling efficient charge separation.[2,3] The lifetime of both perovskite photocathodes and photoanodes can be extended to multiple days in aqueous media,[3,4,6] by replacing low melting alloys with graphite epoxy paste as a conductive, hydrophobic and low-cost encapsulant.[3,6,7] These design principles are successfully applied to an underexplored BiOI light absorber, increasing the photocathode stability for H₂ evolution from minutes to months.[8] Next, we will present our recent progress in device manufacturing for scalable solar fuels production. Lightweight substrates can decrease device cost tenfold and expand device functionality, resulting in flexible, floating artificial leaves.[5] Those materials are compatible with large-scale, automated fabrication processes, which present the most potential towards real-world applications.[6,9,10] Square-meter PEC reactors can also take advantage of the modularity of artificial leaves,[11] while thermoelectric generators bolster water splitting by harvesting waste heat to suply an additional Seebeck voltage.[12,13] Finally, I will showcase PEC devices as versatile platforms to produce value-added chemicals, by interfacing the perovskite semiconductor with copper nanoflower catalysts for CO₂ reduction to C₂ hydrocarbons (ethene, ethylene), and silicon nanowire photoanodes for glycerol oxidation.[14]

References:

[1] Andrei, V. Lead Halide Perovskite Photoelectrocatalysis. Adv. Mater. 2026, e73442.

[2] Andrei, V. et al. Scalable Triple Cation Mixed Halide Perovskite–BiVO4 Tandems for Bias‐Free Water Splitting. Adv. Energy Mater. 2018, 8, 1801403.

[3] Pornrungroj, C.; Andrei, V et al. Bifunctional Perovskite-BiVO4 Tandem Devices for Uninterrupted Solar and Electrocatalytic Water Splitting Cycles. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2021, 31, 2008182.

[4] Andrei, V.; Reuillard, B.; Reisner, E. Bias-free solar syngas production by integrating a molecular cobalt catalyst with perovskite–BiVO4 tandems. Nat. Mater. 2020, 19, 189–194.

[5] Andrei, V.; Ucoski, G. M. et al. Floating perovskite-BiVO4 devices for scalable solar fuel production. Nature 2022, 608, 518–522.

[6] Cheng, Z.; Chow, S. H.; Tham, R. K.; Soh, L. Q.; Tan, E. Y. S.; Duan, X.; Wu, Q.; Mathews, N.; Andrei, V. Automated photoelectrochemical testing platform for screen-printed, noble-metal free perovskite photoanodes. J. Mater. Chem. A 2026.

[7] Andrei, V.; Bethke, K.; Rademann, K. Adjusting the thermoelectric properties of copper(I) oxide–graphite–polymer pastes and the applications of such flexible composites. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2016, 18, 10700–10707.

[8] Andrei, V.; Jagt, R. A. et al. Long-term solar water and CO2 splitting with photoelectrochemical BiOI–BiVO4 tandems. Nat. Mater. 2022, 21, 864–868.

[9] Sokol, K. P.; Andrei, V. Automated synthesis and characterization techniques for solar fuel production. Nat. Rev. Mater. 2022, 7, 251–253.

[10] Andrei, V.; Roh, I.; Yang, P. Nanowire photochemical diodes for artificial photosynthesis. Sci. Adv. 2023, 9, eade9044.

[11] Andrei, V.; Chiang, Y.-H. et al. Modular perovskite-BiVO4 artificial leaves towards syngas synthesis on a m2 scale. Energy Environ. Sci. 2025, 18, 3623–3632.

[12] Andrei, V.; Bethke, K.; Rademann, K. Thermoelectricity in the context of renewable energy sources: joining forces instead of competing. Energy Environ. Sci. 2016, 9, 1528–1532.

[13] Pornrungroj, C.; Andrei, V.; Reisner, E. Thermoelectric–photoelectrochemical water splitting under concentrated solar irradiation. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2023, 145, 13709–13714.

[14] Andrei, V.; Roh, I. et al. Perovskite-driven solar C2 hydrocarbon synthesis from CO2. Nat. Catal. 2025, 8, 137.

Acknowledgements:

This work was supported by Nanyang Technological University (Nanyang Assistant Professorship (NAP) Start-up Grant, 025551-00001, and NAP White Space Funding, 025553-00001).

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