Bioprocess-inspired Fabrication of Lead Iodide Coexisting with Crystalline Nanosheet and Amorphous Nanorod for Perovskite Solar Cells

Abstract

A recombinant protein ChiSifiCa, which was originally designed for regulation of calcium carbonate, was utilized to direct the mineralization of PbI₂. By the regulation of ChiSifiCa protein, PbI₂ nanoparticles composed of crystalline nanoflakes and amorphous nanorods were fabricated under environmental benign conditions. Synthetic PbI₂ was successfully applied for preparation of perovskite precursors to fabricate solar cells. This regulation of ChiSifiCa on PbI₂ improves the power conversion efficiency of corresponding perovskite solar cells to 16%. The present study may open a new avenue in the design and synthesis of materials with novel structures and functions.

Keywords

bioprocess-inspired fabrication / biomineralization / ChiSifiCa protein / lead iodide / perovskite solar cells

References

[1] Neinhuis C, Barthlott W. Characterization and Distribution of Water-repellent, Self-cleaning Plant Surfaces[J]. Ann. Bot., 1997, 79: 667.

[2] Parker A R, Townley H E. Biomimetics of Photonic Nanostructures[J]. Nat. Nanotechnol, 2007, 2(6): 347-353.

[3] Munch E, Launey M E, Alsem D H, et al. Tough, Bio-Inspired Hybrid Materials[J]. Science, 2008, 322(5907): 1516-1520.

[4] Noorduin W L, Grinthal A, Mahadevan L, et al. Rationally Designed Complex, Hierarchical Microarchitectures[J]. Science, 2013, 340(6134): 832-837.

[5] Xie JJ, Ping H, Tan TN, et al. Bioprocess-Inspired Fabrication of Materials with New Structures and Functions[J]. Progress in Materials Science, 2019, 100: 571.1-100 571.49.

[6] Xie JJ, Xie H, Su BL, et al. Mussel-Directed Synthesis of Nitrogen-Doped Anatase TiO₂[J]. Angew. Chem., 2016, 128: 3083-3087.

[7] Ping H, Xie H, Xiang MY, et al. Confined-Space Synthesis of Nanostructured Anatase, Directed by Genetically Engineered Living Organisms for Lithium-Ion Batteries[J]. Chem. Sci., 2016, 7: 6330-6336.

[8] Zeng H, Xie JJ, Xie H, et al. Bioprocess-Inspired Synthesis of Hierarchically Porous Nitrogen-Doped TiO₂ with High Visible-Light Photocatalytic Activity[J]. J. Mater. Chem. A, 2015, 3(38): 19588-19596.

[9] Addadi L, Weiner S. Interactions between Acidic Proteins and Crystals: Stereochemical Requirements in Biomineralization[J]. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 1985, 82(12): 4110-4114.

[10] Orme C A, Noy A, Wierzbicki A, et al. Formation of Chiral Morphologies through Selective Binding of Amino Acids to Calcite Surface Steps[J]. Nature, 2001, 411(6839): 775-779.

[11] Dickerson M B, Sandhage K H, Naik R R. Protein- and Peptide-Directed Syntheses of Inorganic Materials[J]. Chem. Rev., 2008, 108(11): 4935-4978.

[12] Fei X, Li W, Shao Z, et al. Protein Biomineralized Nanoporous Inorganic Mesocrystals with Tunable Hierarchical Nanostructures[J]. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2014, 136(44): 15781-15786.

[13] Du C, Falini G, Fermani S, et al. Supramolecular Assembly of Amelogenin Nanospheres into Birefringent Microribbons[J]. Science, 2005, 307: 1450-1454.

[14] Inoue I, Yamauchi H, Okamoto N, et al. Thermo-Stable Carbon Nanotube-TiO₂ Nanocompsite as Electron Highways in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell Produced by Bio-Nano-Process[J]. Nanotechnology, 2015, 26: 285601.

[15] Ping H, Wan Y, Xie H, et al. Organized Arrangement of Calcium Carbonate Crystals, Directed by a Rationally Designed Protein[J]. Cryst. Growth Des., 2018, 18: 3576-3583.

[16] Addadi L, Joester D, Nudelman F, et al. Mollusk Shell Formation: A Source of New Concepts for Understanding Biomineralization Processes[J]. Chem. Eur. J., 2006, 12: 980-987.

[17] Kaviyarasu K, Sajan D, Selvakumar M S, et al. A Facile Hydrothermal Route to Synthesize Novel PbI₂ Nanorods[J]. J. Phys. Chem. Solids, 2012, 73(11): 1396-1400.

[18] Augusto G D S, Oliveira T A, Moura G D M, et al. Development and Characterization of PbI₂ Nanoparticles for All Solid-State Flexible Supercapacitor Purposes[J]. Mater. Res., 2019, 22(suppl1): e20180886

[19] Zhao Q, Zhang BY, Peng Y, et al. Recovering Quadruple-cation Perovskite Films from Water Caused Permanent Degradations[J]. Journal of Wuhan University of Technology -Materials Science Edition, 2020, 35(1): 57-64.

[20] Lan CY, Dong RT, Zhou ZY, et al. Large-Scale Synthesis of Freestanding Layer-Structured PbI₂ and MAPbI₃ Nanosheets for High-Performance Photodetection[J]. Adv. Mater., 2017, 29: 1702759.

[21] Mohd S, Yahia I S, Ganesh V, et al. A Facile Synthesis of Au-Nanoparticles Decorated PbI₂ Single Crystalline Nanosheets for Optoelectronic Device Applications[J]. Sci. Rep., 2018, 8(1): 13806

[22] Barnakov Y A, Ito S, Dmitruk I, et al. Production and Optical Study of PbI₂ Nanorod-Like Particles[J]. Scr. Mater., 2001, 45(3): 273-277.

[23] Wang L, Jia DZ, Liu L, et al. Synthesis of Surface-Modified Lead Iodide Nanorods by Room Temperature Solid-State Reaction[J]. Acta Chimica Sinica, 2005, 63(6): 503-506.

[24] Wang XL, Xie H, Su BL, et al. A Bio-Process Inspired Synthesis of Vaterite (CaCO₃), Directed by a Rationally Designed Multifunctional Protein, ChiCaSifi[J]. J. Mater. Chem. A, 2015, 3(29): 5951-5956.

[25] Esmaeili E, Salavati-Niasari M, Mohandes F, et al. Modified Single-Phase Hematite Nanoparticles via a Facile Approach for Large-Scale Synthesis[J]. Chem. Eng. J., 2011, 170(1): 278-285.

[26] Tavakoli F, Salavati-Niasari M, Mohandes F. Sonochemical Synthesis and Characterization of Lead Iodide Hydroxide Micro/Nanostructures[J]. Ultrason Sonochem, 2014, 21(1): 234-241.

[27] Carey P R. Biochemical Applications of Raman and Resonance Raman Spectroscopies, 1982 New York: Academic Press.

[28] Lee Y J, Yi H, Kim W J, et al. Fabricating Genetically Engineered High-Power Lithium Ion Batteries Using Multiple Virus Genes[J]. Science, 2009, 324: 1171541-1171631.

[29] Shi Y, Wang X, Zhang H, et al. Effects of 4-Tert-Butylpyridine on Perovskite Formation and Performance of Solution-Processed Perovskite Solar Cells[J]. J. Mater. Chem. A, 2015, 3(44): 22191-22198.

[30] Ko H S, Lee J W, Park N G. 15.76% Efficiency Perovskite Solar Cell Prepared under High Relative Humidity: Importance of PbI₂ Morphology in Two-Step Deposition of CH₃NH₃PbI₃[J]. J. Mater. Chem. A, 2015, 3(16): 8808-8815.