The role of perovskite oxides in solar energy conversion

Water splitting efficiently converts solar energy to chemical energy. Inorganic perovskite oxides can act as photocatalysts in this process.

These materials are easily prepared, abundant, and exhibit controllable energy band structures and properties. However, their performance varies and is still too low for factory-scale applications.

To improve the performance of perovskite oxides, researchers must better understand their role in photochemical and photoelectrochemical water splitting. Wang et al. summarize recent research related to converting solar energy with these materials.

The authors discuss different modification methods used to enhance the performance of perovskite oxides, which could serve as a reference for those designing them for water splitting.

“This review includes mechanism research, material design, and commercial application progress to promote the scientific research of perovskite oxides for water splitting,” said author Gang Li. “We hope that researchers who are engaged in the fields of perovskite materials, water splitting, and semiconductor devices read this review carefully and, therefore, obtain effective information from it.”

While the authors outline potential systems based on perovskite oxides for photocatalytic water splitting in commercial applications, they acknowledge a lack of feasible systems remains.

The authors suggest future work in this field focus on investigating the mechanisms of these materials, building layered structures, because they offer unique advantages, as well as further developing preparation methods.

“Most of the reported perovskite materials are prepared by hydrothermal methods, and the impact of such a laboratory-scale method on the commercial application of materials is rarely explored,” Li said. “The preparation process that breaks through the laboratory scale deserves further attention.”

Source: “Advances in engineering perovskite oxides for photochemical and photoelectrochemical water splitting,” by Zheyan Wang, Hao Huang, Gang Li, Xiaohui Yan, Zhichao Yu, Kaiying Wang, and Yucheng Wu, Applied Physics Reviews (2021). The article can be accessed at https://aip.scitation.org/doi/full/10.1063/5.0039197 .