Covalent Triazine Frameworks (CTFs): Synthesis, Crystallization, and Photocatalytic Water Splitting

Covalent Triazine Frameworks (CTFs) have received great attention from academia owing to their unique structure characteristics such as nitrogen-rich structure, chemical stability, fully conjugated skeleton and high surface area; all these unique properties make CTFs attractive for widespread applications, especially for photocatalytic applications. In this review, we aim to provide recent advances in the CTFs preparation, and mainly focus on their photocatalytic applications. This review provides a comprehensive and systematic overview of the CTFs' synthetic methods, crystallinity lifting strategies, and their applications for photocatalytic water splitting. Firstly, a brief background including the photocatalytic water splitting and crystallinity are provided. Then, synthetic methods related to CTFs and the strategies for enhancing the crystallinity are summarized and compared. After that, the general photocatalytic mechanism and the strategies to improve the photocatalytic performance of CTFs are discussed. Finally, the perspectives and challenges of fabricating high crystalline CTFs and designing CTFs with excellent photocatalytic performance are discussed, inspiring the development of CTF materials in photocatalytic applications.

Acetylene/Vinylene-Bridged π-Conjugated Covalent Triazine Polymers for Photocatalytic Aerobic Oxidation Reactions under Visible Light Irradiation

Solar-driven photocatalytic chemical transformation provides a sustainable strategy to produce valuable feedstock, but designing photocatalysts with high efficiency remains challenging. Herein, two acetylene- or vinylene-bridged π-conjugated covalent triazine polymers, A-CTP-DPA and V-CTP-DPE, were successfully fabricated toward metal-free photocatalytic oxidation under visible light irradiation. Compared to the one without acetylene or vinylene bridge, both resulting polymers exhibited superior activity in photocatalytic selective oxidation of sulfides and oxidative coupling of amines; in particular, A-CTP-DPA delivered an optimal photocatalytic performance. The superior activity was attributed to the broadened spectral response range, effective separation, rapid transportation of photogenerated charge carriers, and abundant active sites for photogenerated electrons due to the existence of the acetylene bridge in the framework. This work highlights the potential of acetylene and vinylene bridges in tuning catalytic efficiency of organic semiconductors, providing a guideline for the design of efficient photocatalysts.

Ultrathin Crystalline Covalent-Triazine-Framework Nanosheets with Electron Donor Groups for Synergistically Enhanced Photocatalytic Water Splitting

Ultrathin nanosheets have great potential for photocatalytic applications, however, suffer from enlarged band gap and narrowed visible-light-responsive range due to the quantum confinement effect. Herein, we report a novel redox strategy for efficient preparation of ultrathin crystalline amide-functionalized covalent-triazine-framework nanosheets (CTF NSs) with enhanced visible light absorption. The CTF NSs exhibited photocatalytic hydrogen (512.3 μmol h^-1 ) and oxygen (12.37 μmol h^-1 ) evolution rates much higher than that of pristine bulk CTF. Photocatalytic overall water splitting could be achieved with efficient stoichiometric H₂ (5.13 μmol h^-1 ) and O₂ (2.53 μmol h^-1 ) evolution rates under visible light irradiation. Experimental and theoretical analysis revealed that introduction of amide groups as electron donor optimized the band structure and improve its visible-light absorption, hydrophilicity and carrier separation efficiency, thus resulting in the enhanced photocatalytic performance. The well-dispersed CTF NSs could be easily cast onto a support as a thin film device and demonstrate excellent photocatalytic activity (25.7 mmol h^-1  m^-2 for hydrogen evolution).