Recent advances in COF-based framework: Synthesis, Potential application, Current challenges and Future direction

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are a type of crystalline material that possess persistent porous nature by exhibiting highly organized architectures. Compared to various kinds of polymers, COF has a unique characteristic of being intrinsically pre-designable, synthetically programmable, and chemically controllable. The geometric architecture of COF provides topological instructions for the well arrangement of elongated porous triangles, while polymerization processes offer different preparation methods in order to develop predetermined but high-ordered configurations. The advancements made in the chemistry of these two features during last decade have undeniably laid the foundation for the field of COF. The COFs, have become a new area of organic substances due to their abundance of organic units and variety of structures and connections. This makes them a great tool for designing complicated structures and developing customized functions. This article aims to conduct a thorough examination of the field of COFs, including a historical background of their chemistry, an assessment of advancements in structure design and preparation ways, along with an exploration of their structural characteristics and disparities, an analysis of possible uses for energy conversion storage and environmental remediation, a discussion of the most crucial and technical concerns that require attention, and a projection of the future prospects from the perspectives of physics, chemistry and materials science.