Synthetic strategy for metallophthalocyanine covalent organic frameworks for electrochemical water oxidation

Atomically dispersed metal catalysts are interesting materials for electrocatalysis. To this end, covalent organic frameworks (COFs) offer an excellent opportunity for the periodic placement of catalytically active single metal atoms within a porous framework. We report here a synthetic strategy to a series of imide-linked metal-containing phthalocyanine (Pc) COFs with different metal contents. Electrocatalytic activity of the materials towards oxygen evolution reaction was studied under alkaline conditions and the COF prepared from NiPc showed the best performance with current density j = 10 mA cm−2 being reached at overpotential η10 ≈ 410 mV and Tafel slope of b = 75 mV/dec. In addition, the material showed excellent long-term stability during the testing time of 100 h.