Superior Self-Powered Room-Temperature Chemical Sensing with Light-Activated Inorganic Halides Perovskites

Hybrid halide perovskite is one of the promising light absorber and is intensively investigated for many optoelectronic applications. Here, the first prototype of a self-powered inorganic halides perovskite for chemical gas sensing at room temperature under visible-light irradiation is presented. These devices consist of porous network of CsPbBr3 (CPB) and can generate an open-circuit voltage of 0.87 V under visible-light irradiation, which can be used to detect various concentrations of O2 and parts per million concentrations of medically relevant volatile organic compounds such as acetone and ethanol with very quick response and recovery time. It is observed that O2 gas can passivate the surface trap sites in CPB and the ambipolar charge transport in the perovskite layer results in a distinct sensing mechanism compared with established semiconductors with symmetric electrical response to both oxidizing and reducing gases. The platform of CPB-based gas sensor provides new insights for the emerging area of wearable sensors for personalized and preventive medicine.H.C. and M.Z. contributed equally to this work. A.T. gratefully acknowledges the support of Australian Research Council (ARC) DP150101939, ARC DE160100569, and Westpac 2016 Research Fellowship. M.Z., S.H., and A.W.Y. H.-B. acknowledge the support of the Australian government via financial support from the ARC through the DP160102955 program and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency. K.R.C. acknowledges the support of an ARC Future Fellowship. The financial support from ARC through DP160102955 is also acknowledged