Tuning excited state electronic structure and charge transport in covalent organic frameworks for enhanced photocatalytic performance

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) represent an emerging class of organic photocatalysts. However, their complicated structures lead to indeterminacy about photocatalytic active sites and reaction mechanisms. Herein, we use reticular chemistry to construct a family of isoreticular crystalline hydrazide-based COF photocatalysts, with the optoelectronic properties and local pore characteristics of the COFs modulated using different linkers. The excited state electronic distribution and transport pathways in the COFs are probed using a host of experimental methods and theoretical calculations at a molecular level. One of our developed COFs (denoted as COF-4) exhibits a remarkable excited state electron…

• NS
  National Science Foundation
• WF
  Welch Foundation

  Award: B-0027
• SS
  Salt Science Research Foundation
• RS
  Royal Society
• RS
  Royal Society Te Apārangi
• NN
  National Natural Science Foundation of China

  Awards: 22006036, 2018YFC1900105, U2167218, 22276054, U2167218; 22006036; 22276054
• NN
  National Natural Science Foundation of China-Yunnan Joint Fund

  Awards: U2167218, 22276054, 22006036
• NK
  National Key Research and Development Program of China

  Award: 2018YFC1900105