Hollow spherical covalent organic framework supported gold nanoparticles for photocatalytic H2O2 production

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are porous crystalline materials with promising applications in photocatalysis, but their performance is greatly hampered by the fast recombination of photogenerated carriers. Herein, a hollow spherical COF was synthesized via the condensation polymerization of 1,3,5-tris(4-aminophenyl)benzene and 1,3,5-benzenetricarbaldehyde, and Au nanoparticles were in-situ deposited onto the COF through NaBH4 reduction to ameliorate the photocatalytic performance. The composite exhibits impressive photocatalytic H2O2-production performance with the highest H2O2-evolution rate of 6067 μmol g−1 h−1 under visible light irradiation, which is about 1.9 times that of the pristine COF. The enhanced photocatalytic activity was ascribed to improved light absorption, abundant active Au sites, and efficient transfer and separation of photogenerated carriers in space. This work provides an avenue for designing high-performance H2O2-production photocatalysts by decorating porous COFs with active noble-metal sites.