Analysis of the Heat Treatment Effect of CsPbBr3 Photoanode on the Photoelectrochemical Performance: Preliminary Results

The perovskite CsPbBr3 possesses good photoelectrochemical properties, making it a potential candidate for use as a photoanode. The commonly used photoanode is the FTO/TiO2/CsPbBr3 photoanode in water splitting applications. However, there has been no research conducted on the FTO/TiO2/CsPbBr3 photoanode for the oxidation of glucose derived from abundant biomass sources. This study aims to analyze the influence of heat treatment and glucose concentration on the performance of glucose oxidation, as well as the efficiency of glucose conversion and electricity production. First, CsPbBr3 solution is prepared under vacuum conditions using the Ligand Assisted Reprecipitation (LARP) method. Subsequently, the fabrication process of the FTO/TiO2/CsPbBr3 photoanode is carried out with variations including no heat treatment, heat treatment at a temperature of 110°C, and variations in glucose solution concentrations of 0.2 M and 0.5 M. XRD and SEM tests are conducted to determine the formed phases and morphology of CsPbBr3. The XRD and SEM results confirm the presence of CsPbBr3 phase and the formation of CsPb2Br5 phase due to the heat treatment process. The EIS testing reveals that the heat treatment process induces an oxidation process in the CsPbBr3 perovskite, which can decrease the glucose oxidation performance of the FTO/TiO2/CsPbBr3 photoanode. Based on HPLC analysis, the highest conversion efficiency of glucose is 97.37%, respectively under 110 oC heat treatment and with 0.5 M glucose.