Incorporation of Metal Active Sites on Porous Polycarbazoles for Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction

Abstract Photocatalytic conversion of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) to valuable products is one of the promising approaches to mitigate climate change and provide chemical fuels. The structural design of photocatalysts has been therefore directed to enhancing the CO 2 conversion efficiency and selectivity. Herein, we report that the metalated porous polycarbazoles, made by facile one‐pot oxidative polymerization and successive transition metal impregnation, can effectively convert CO 2 into carbon monoxide (CO) with high selectivity under visible light irradiation. The high porosity of the porous polycarbazoles provides enhanced CO 2 adsorption and the incorporated metals facilitate the CO 2 activation. The type of metal ions influences the CO selectivity by altering surface reaction kinetics for CO 2 reduction. Our approach proves that the photocatalytic CO 2 reduction ability and selectivity of porous conjugated polymers can be improved by decorating functional metal species to modulate the adsorption and activation behavior of CO 2 molecules.