Organolead halide perovskites, primarily regarded as a high-performance semiconducting component in photovoltaics, have excellent optical and charge-transport characteristics that are advantageous for photocatalysis. However, their moisture-sensitive nature largely hinders their application to water splitting. Here we report a semiconductive organolead iodide layered crystalline material ([Pb₈I₈(H₂O)₃]⁸⁺[^–O₂C(CH₂)₄CO₂^–]₄) with a bandgap of ~2.74 eV that demonstrates a high robustness over a wide pH range as well as under aqueous boiling conditions. The Earth-abundant material maintains excellent optical characteristics similar to those of perovskites, and includes suitable band positions, excellent carrier diffusion lengths (up to 1.4 μm) and long carrier lifetimes (up to 1.2 μs). When illuminated by sunlight and combined with trace amounts of a Rh co-catalyst, the hybrid iodoplumbate steadily and efficiently produces stoichiometric amounts of hydrogen and oxygen in a recyclable manner. Our findings extend the excellent optoelectronic properties of organolead halide materials from photovoltaics to photocatalytic water splitting.

主要被认为是光电器件中的高性能半导体成分的有机油卤化物钙钛矿具有出色的光学和电荷传输特性，有利于光催化。但是，它们对水分敏感的性质大大阻碍了它们在水分解中的应用。在此我们报告一种层状有机碘化铅叠层结晶材料（[Pb ₈ I ₈（H ₂ O）₃ ] ⁸⁺ [ ^– O ₂ C（CH ₂）₄ CO ₂ ^– ] ₄）的带隙为〜2.74 eV，在宽pH范围内以及在水沸腾条件下均显示出高耐用性。富含地球的材料保持了与钙钛矿类似的出色光学特性，并包括合适的能带位置，出色的载流子扩散长度（最大1.4μm）和更长的载流子寿命（最大1.2μs）。当在阳光下照射并与痕量的Rh助催化剂结合时，杂化碘代铅酸盐稳定而有效地以可循环利用的方式产生化学计算量的氢和氧。我们的发现将卤化有机铅材料的出色光电性能从光伏技术扩展到光催化水分解。