Porous Organic Frameworks for Photo(electro)catalyst

Porous Organic Frameworks (POFs) represent a class of porous materials, comprising Covalent Organic Polymers, Covalent Organic Frameworks, Covalent Graphyne-n, and Covalent g-C₃N₄ networks, garnering considerable attention for their potential applications in energy and environmental fields. Composed of organic ligands interconnected by various linkages, it boasts well-defined porous architectures with multiple organo-functional groups, redox-active moieties, high surface areas, and tunable electronic properties, making them versatile candidates for various applications. These encompass photocatalysis, electrocatalysis, energy storage (including batteries and supercapacitors), semiconducting activity, sensor development, thermal management, organic transistors, optoelectronic devices, electrochromism, and electroluminescence. While some applications may still be in the experimental or conceptual stages, ongoing research and development endeavors aim to optimize organic framework’s properties for practical implementation, necessitating advancements in synthesis techniques, characterization methods, and device engineering to fully exploit their potential in applied world.

This Research Topic aims to bridge the gap between fundamental research and practical applications in the dynamic field of porous crystalline networks. In light of the pressing climate crisis, our objective is to establish a connection to real-world problems by exploring how researchers can design POFs to facilitate emerging sustainable technologies encompassing energy, photo(electro)catalyst. The process involves several key steps: (1) Synthesis Optimization: Develop innovative synthesis methods to enhance the scalability, efficiency, and reproducibility of POFs. Explore green chemistry approaches to minimize environmental impact during synthesis. (2) Functional Group Engineering: Delve into methods for meticulous management of functional group integration and distribution in POFs, studying their impact on photo(electro)catalytic performance. (3) Surface Area Enhancement: Develop strategies to increase the surface area of porous-organic frameworks for enhanced adsorption and catalytic activity. Investigate hierarchical structures and surface modifications to maximize active site accessibility. (4) Application-Specific Optimization: Tailor POFs for targeted photo(electro)catalyst application. Optimize structural and chemical properties to improve performance metrics such as efficiency, stability, and selectivity. (5) Scale-Up and Commercialization: Address scalability challenges to facilitate large-scale production of POFs for photo(electro)catalyst application such as overall water splitting and CO₂RR.

By pursuing these objectives, the field of POFs can fully harness its potential to tackle urgent challenges in sustainable energy and environmental conservation.

We welcome Original Research, Review, Mini Review and Perspective articles on themes including, but not limited to:

• Porous organic framework as a photo(electro)catalyst for overall water splitting, H₂O₂ production, CO₂ reduction to value added product, NH₃ production and solar to chemical energy transformation.

• Functional Porous Organic Polymers as a photo(electro)catalyst.

• Development of stable Covalent Organic Framework for photo(electro)catalyst.

• Covalent g-C₃N₄ networks as a photo(electro)catalyst.

• Porous carbon as a photo(electro)catalyst.

Keywords: Porous-Organic-Framework, Synthetic-designing, Photo(electro)catalyst, Energy and Environmental applications, Mechanism, Computational-investigation

Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.