Advances in Covalent-Organic Frameworks for Photocatalysis and Electrocatalysis

Covalent-organic frameworks (COFs) have emerged as promising materials for photocatalysis and electrocatalysis due to their tunable structures, high surface areas, and exceptional stability. This Review systematically summarizes recent advances in the design, synthesis, and functionalization of COFs with a focus on strategies for optimizing their performance through topology control, flexibility modulation, thin-film fabrication, and multilayer stacking. Furthermore, the reaction mechanisms and applications of COFs in electrocatalysis (oxygen evolution reaction (OER), hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), and hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR)) and photocatalysis (water splitting, CO₂ reduction, and pollutant degradation) are comprehensively discussed. This work provides a systematic comparison of COF catalysts across different reaction types, highlighting key structure-property relationships and performance metrics. Finally, we critically analyze the challenges and opportunities in the development of COFs, offering valuable insights for future research in this field.