Enhanced photocatalytic activity of water stable hydroxyl ammonium lead halide perovskites

Hybrid perovskite have shown a potential as structurally and chemically tunable materials with interesting optical properties. Herein, We describe the synthesis and characterization of two new perovskites, hydroxyl ammonium lead iodo chloride, OHNH3PbI2Cl (1) and hydroxyl ammonium lead chloride, OHNH3PbCl3(2) by wet-chemical route. The as-prepared (1) and (2) have shown promising optical properties with suitable band gaps 3.7 eV and 3.9 eV respectvely. Time resolved Photoluminescence (PL) results showed that hybride pervoskite (2) had a long lived PL whereas (1) exhibited a short PL life-time. Thermo-gravimetrical analysis (TGA) in nitrogen gas environment revealed that (1) and (2) are stable and do not show any sign of decomposition up to ~200 oC. Photocatalytical performance of as-prepared materials (1) and (2) under sunlight were mointerted using textile dye direct yellow. The compound (1) degraded dye in 20 min while (2) in 55 min with superior recyclablity.