FUNCTION – ORIENTED SYNTHESIS OF COVALENT ORGANIC FRAMEWORKS

Abstract

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are molecular Legos that allow atomically precise integration of small organic building units into extended crystalline, porous networks completely via covalent bonds. Unlike amorphous polymers, the periodicity of crystalline COFs should give rise to colligative properties that are different from those of randomly bonded networks. More work is needed to convincingly demonstrate that a COF can perform better than its amorphous counterparts or small molecular building units in certain applications because of its well-ordered structure. In this research thesis, I focus on the study of the structure-property relationship of COFs, leading to function-oriented synthesis of this type of materials. Capitalizing their unique structures, COFs are designed with various properties which potentially can be applied in energy storage, optical limiting devices, toxin removal and fluorescence, which are demonstrated in Chapter 3-6 respectively. This thesis serves as a guideline on how to structurally design versatile functional solid materials using COFs.