Microenvironment Modulation of Imine-Based Covalent Organic Frameworks for CO2 Photoreduction

Photocatalytic CO2 reduction to fuels and chemicals has been considered as the promising avenue to realize carbon resource recycling. Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) with pre-designed and tailorable structures are promising platforms for studying the influence of the microenvironment of catalysts on photocatalytic CO2 reduction. Herein, we report three isomorphic COFs (TPHH-COF, TPPD-COF and TPBD-COF) as heterogeneous photocatalysts for CO2 reduction and investigate the different levels of conjugation and planarity of COFs effect on the catalytic activity. Photoelectrochemical measurements show that TPPD-COF has a narrower band gap and faster photocurrent response compared to TPHH-COF and TPBD-COF, probably due to the moderate conjugation and planarity. As the photocatalyst, TPPD-COF showed the most outstanding photocatalytic activity with the production rates of 951 and 157 mu mol center dot g(-1)center dot h(-1) for CO and H-2, respectively. This study illustrates the close relation between microenvironment and photocatalytic activity and provides new insights for designing high-performance photocatalysts. [GRAPHICS] .