Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2026 Feb 2;130(6):2119-2128.
doi: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.5c07925. eCollection 2026 Feb 12.

Efficient and Stable Hydrogen Evolution from HI Splitting Using a Robust 2D Tin-Iodide Perovskite

Samiksha Mukesh Jain  1 , Samrat Das Adhikari  1   2 , Camilo A Mesa  1 , Hind Benzidi  3 , José Manuel González-Acosta  3   4 , Andrés F Gualdrón-Reyes  1   5 , Núria López  3 , Sixto Giménez  1 , Iván Mora-Seró  1
Affiliations

Efficient and Stable Hydrogen Evolution from HI Splitting Using a Robust 2D Tin-Iodide Perovskite

Samiksha Mukesh Jain et al. J Phys Chem C Nanomater Interfaces. .

Abstract

Photocatalytic hydrogen (H2) production with 2D Ruddlesden-Popper tin-iodide perovskites has recently emerged as a promising route toward sustainable solar-to-fuel conversion. However, a major limitation of these systems lies in their rapid degradation caused by tin and iodide oxidation. In the present study, we report the synthesis of 4-fluorophenethylammonium tin-iodide (4FPSI) perovskite microcrystals in a mixture of hydroiodic acid (HI) and H2O, which exhibit remarkable long-term photostability and sustained photocatalytic H2 production via HI splitting. Intermittent light irradiation was shown to further boost H2 production by promoting efficient charge separation and suppressing the accumulation of trapped charge carriers that drive recombination. Notably, reused and aged materials showed enhanced photocatalytic performance, which theoretical simulations attributed to surface reconstruction that exposes additional tin catalytic active sites. The samples that underwent degradation after multiple photocatalytic tests could be recovered through a simple chemical treatment and restore the H2 production capability. Together, these findings highlight tin-iodide perovskites as highly promising photocatalysts for solar H2 production, combining durability, recyclability, and facile recovery strategies to simultaneously advance all key performance metrics.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

1
1
(a) Scheme of the reaction mechanism leading to 4FPSI perovskite MCs in HI/H2O, and (b) PL spectra of the MCs measured at different times.
2
2
(a) Photocatalytic H2 production under continuous irradiation (red curve) and intermittent irradiation (blue curve), and (b) corresponding H2 production rate. Characterization of the fresh and the tested samples: (c) XRD patterns and (d) PL spectra. SEM images of (e) fresh and (f) tested samples presenting an identical morphology.
3
3
(a) Photocatalytic H2 production of the samples tested several times, and (b) their corresponding average H2 evolution rate. (c) Photocatalytic H2 production for the fresh and reused samples, and (d) their corresponding average H2 evolution rate. The fresh sample was tested and then reused after 9 months and 1 year, respectively.
4
4
(a) Side-view atomic structures of the three surface terminations, Org-term, Mixed-term, and Sn-term. (b) Absolute VB and CB edge positions vs NHE. (c) Free-energy diagrams for proton adsorption (ΔG H*) on each termination, indicating the thermodynamic driving force for hydrogen evolution.
5
5
(a) XRD patterns of fresh 4FPSI (black) and its degraded product (red). (b) SEM image of the degraded product.
6
6
(top) Reaction pathway of the oxygen-induced defects and intermediate states for self-healing in tin halide perovskite: from O2 adsorption to halide recovery. Orange: oxygen-rich environment. Light-purple: HI-rich environment. Green and red circles indicate the presence or absence (respectively) of the Sn–I bond, showing if it maintains the octahedral shape. (bottom) Structural models of the intermediates are defined in the top reaction coordinate. Color code: Sn: metallic, I: purple, oxygen: red, carbon: gray, nitrogen: blue, hydrogen: white.
7
7
(a) XRD patterns of fresh and recrystallized samples. (b) PL spectra of the recrystallized samples. SEM images of the recrystallized samples using (c, d) HI and (e, f) HI+HCl.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Fehr A. M. K., Deutsch T. G., Toma F. M., Wong M. S., Mohite A. D.. Technoeconomic Model and Pathway to < $2/kg Green Hydrogen Using Integrated Halide Perovskite Photoelectrochemical Cells. ACS Energy Letters. 2023;8(12):4976–4983. doi: 10.1021/acsenergylett.3c01865. - DOI
    1. Jeong W., Jang G., Yun J., Jeong C.-S., Park Y. S., Lee H., Son J., Lee C. U., Lee J., Lee J., Yang S., Lee S., Moon S., Moon J.. Large-area all-perovskite-based coplanar photoelectrodes for scaled-up solar hydrogen production. Energy Environ. Sci. 2024;17(10):3604–3617. doi: 10.1039/D4EE01167H. - DOI
    1. Park S., Chang W. J., Lee C. W., Park S., Ahn H. Y., Nam K. T.. Photocatalytic hydrogen generation from hydriodic acid using methylammonium lead iodide in dynamic equilibrium with aqueous solution. Nat. Energy. 2016;2(1):16185. doi: 10.1038/nenergy.2016.185. - DOI
    1. Fu H., Wu Y., Guo Y., Sakurai T., Zhang Q., Liu Y., Zheng Z., Cheng H., Wang Z., Huang B., Wang Q., Domen K., Wang P.. A scalable solar-driven photocatalytic system for separated H2 and O2 production from water. Nat. Commun. 2025;16(1):990. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-56314-x. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Song X., Wei G., Sun J., Peng C., Yin J., Zhang X., Jiang Y., Fei H.. Overall photocatalytic water splitting by an organolead iodide crystalline material. Nature Catalysis. 2020;3(12):1027–1033. doi: 10.1038/s41929-020-00543-4. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources