Engineering a covalent organic framework-based type-II heterojunction for enhanced photocatalytic H2O2 synthesis
摘要
Although covalent organic framework (COF)-based photocatalysts show advantages in visible-light-driven photocatalytic hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) production, enhancing the photogenerated carrier transfer efficiency to boost overall H2O2 production remains challenging. Here, based on Schiff base reactions of 2,4,6-triformylphloroglucinol (Tp) with p-phenylenediamine (Pa) and 3,6-pyridazinediamine (Dz), a COF/COF type-II heterojunction, TpPa/TpDz, was constructed. TpPa/TpDz achieved a photocatalytic H2O2 production of 24.42 mmol g−1 h−1 in pure water, demonstrating exceptional performance among organic material-based photocatalysts under comparable conditions. Mechanism studies revealed that the almost complete separation of the highest occupied and lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals in the type-II heterojunction allows efficient and directional transport of photogenerated carriers, enabling efficient photocatalytic H2O2 synthesis. This work illustrates the advantages of the design of COF-based heterojunction photocatalysts for H2O2 production, offering insights and strategies for developing high-performance COF-based systems for the synthesis of value-added products.