Industry-compatible covalent organic frameworks for green chemical engineering

In order to move towards sustainable development, the discovery of energy-efficient and environmentally friendly materials has become increasingly imperative. Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) as emerging designable crystalline porous materials have captured increasing attention for a wide array of clean-energy and environmental applications, attributed to their attractive advantages of low density, high surface area, adjustable and periodic pores, and functional skeletons. This review attempts to highlight the key advancements made in the green synthesis of COFs, processing of COFs, energy and environment-related applications, including gas storage, water treatment, the separation of gas mixture and organic molecules, catalysis, supercapacitors, fuel cell, and rechargeable batteries. Finally, a perspective regarding the remaining challenges and future directions on the synthesis and promising application for green chemical engineering of COFs has also been presented based on current achievements.