Enhancing charge transfer efficiency through carboxyl-modification to improve the photocatalytic activity of covalent organic frameworks for hydrogen evolution from water splitting.

The design of photocatalysts based on covalent organic frameworks (COFs) has attracted considerable interest. Nevertheless, the low efficiency in separating photogenerated carriers remains a substantial challenge. Herein, carboxyl modification is employed to enhance the separation efficiency of photogenerated carriers within imine-based porphyrin COFs through the resultant built-in electric field, thereby improving the photocatalytic performance of COFs in hydrogen evolution from water splitting.