Air- and water-stable and photocatalytically active germanium-based 2D perovskites by organic spacer engineering

There is increasing interest in the role of metal halide perovskites for heterogeneous catalysis. Here, we report a Ge-based 2D perovskite material that shows intrinsic water stability realized through organic cation engineering. Incorporating 4-phenylbenzilammonium (PhBz) we demonstrate, by means of extended experimental and computational results, that PhBz(2)GeBr(4) and PhBz(2)GeI(4) can achieve relevant air and water stability. The creation of composites embedding graphitic carbon nitride (g-C(3)N(4)) allows a proof of concept for light-induced hydrogen evolution in an aqueous environment by 2D Ge-based perovskites thanks to the effective charge transfer at the heterojunction between the two semiconductors.