Sulfone-containing covalent organic frameworks for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from water


Wang, Xiaoyan, Chen, Linjiang, Chong, Samantha Y ORCID: 0000-0002-3095-875X, Little, Marc A, Wu, Yongzhen, Zhu, Wei-Hong, Clowes, Rob, Yan, Yong ORCID: 0000-0002-7926-3959, Zwijnenburg, Martijn A, Sprick, Reiner Sebastian et al (show 1 more authors) (2018) Sulfone-containing covalent organic frameworks for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from water. Nature Chemistry, 10 (12). pp. 1180-1189.

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Abstract

Nature uses organic molecules for light harvesting and photosynthesis, but most man-made water splitting catalysts are inorganic semiconductors. Organic photocatalysts, while attractive because of their synthetic tunability, tend to have low quantum efficiencies for water splitting. Here we present a crystalline covalent organic framework (COF) based on a benzo-bis(benzothiophene sulfone) moiety that shows a much higher activity for photochemical hydrogen evolution than its amorphous or semicrystalline counterparts. The COF is stable under long-term visible irradiation and shows steady photochemical hydrogen evolution with a sacrificial electron donor for at least 50 hours. We attribute the high quantum efficiency of fused-sulfone-COF to its crystallinity, its strong visible light absorption, and its wettable, hydrophilic 3.2 nm mesopores. These pores allow the framework to be dye-sensitized, leading to a further 61% enhancement in the hydrogen evolution rate up to 16.3 mmol g−1 h−1. The COF also retained its photocatalytic activity when cast as a thin film onto a support.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Materials chemistry, Photocatalysis
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 08 Oct 2018 10:46
Last Modified: 19 Jan 2023 01:15
DOI: 10.1038/s41557-018-0141-5
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3027127
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