Flexible Hydrazone-Linked Metal-Covalent Organic Frameworks with Copper Clusters for Efficient Electrocatalytic...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Catalysis
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Flexible metal-covalent organic frameworks (MCOFs) offer high atomic utilization efficiency but are challenging to synthesize.
• Limited research exists on flexible MCOFs incorporating flexible building units or linkages.

Purpose of the Study:

• To construct novel flexible MCOFs using flexible building blocks and copper clusters with hydrazone linkages.
• To evaluate the catalytic performance of these MCOFs for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER).

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of novel flexible MCOFs utilizing hydrazone linkage coordination.
• Preparation of heterometallic (Cu, Co) frameworks.
• Electrocatalytic evaluation for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in 1 M KOH.
• Theoretical calculations to elucidate catalytic mechanisms.

Main Results:

• As-synthesized MCOFs exhibited outstanding OER catalytic activity with a low overpotential (268.8 mV at 10 mA cm⁻²).
• Performance surpasses reported covalent organic frameworks (COFs)-based OER catalysts.
• Theoretical calculations confirmed synergistic effects between heterometallic active sites.

Conclusions:

• A novel strategy for designing flexible MCOF catalysts for OER was introduced.
• The study highlights enhanced atomic utilization efficiency and catalytic performance through heterometallic cooperation.
• Flexible MCOFs show promise for efficient electrochemical energy conversion applications.