A review of nanoporous materials derived from Covalent Organic Frameworks

Abstract

The implementation of nanoporous materials is becoming increasingly more prevalent due to their unique characteristics, which make them highly applicable in a multitude of different functionalities. Covalent Organic Frameworks (COFs) are one of the new types of nanoporous material constructed from covalently bonded non-metals. COFs exhibit several advantages over conventional nanoporous materials such as low density, high thermal stability and the framework can be tailored for specific applications. This paper reviews recent works on synthesis, characterisation and applications of this new class of nanoporous materials. It is obvious from various studies that 3-dimensional COFs can, at least, compete with established nanoporous materials such zeolite and metal organic frameworks (MOFs) in terms of potential for H2 storage, if not improve upon them. While previous studies focused on applying COFs for hydrogen storage, it is postulated that COFs can be further developed for various chemical engineering applications such as gas storage, separation processes, and catalytic reactions.