Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 4, 2026
In Situ High Pressure Hydrogen Tribological Testing of Common Polymer Materials Used in the Hydrogen Delivery Infrastructure
Published on: March 31, 2018
Band-Gap Engineering of Isoreticular Hydrogen-Bonded Organic Frameworks for Boosting Photocatalytic Hydrogen
Guanglai Mo1, Yunke Jin1, Yingjia Deng1
1Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials, Department of Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Porous Materials For Separation and Conversion, College of Smart Materials and Future Energy, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Abstract:
The rational modulation of band structures in organic semiconductors is central to advancing photocatalytic performance but remains challenging for hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks (HOFs) due to their structural sensitivity to the modification of organic building units (OBUs). Here, based on the stable mesoporous framework HOF-102, π-conjugation-extended and donor-acceptor-tuned OBUs were predesigned by substituting the steric naphthalene units with benzene-vinyl derivatives bearing ─H, ─CH3, or ─CN groups. Through a shape-fitted π─π stacking strategy, three mesoporous HOFs isoreticular with HOF-102 were synthesized from the tailored OBUs, namely HOF-1022, HOF-1022(CH3), and HOF-1022(CN). These as-synthesized HOFs exhibit pronounced variations in visible-light absorption, with band gaps adjustable from 2.46 to 1.86 eV. Among these HOFs, the D-A-optimized HOF-1022(CN) possesses the narrowest band gap and exhibits significantly enhanced intraframework electron transfer and suppressed charge recombination, yielding an impressive hydrogen evolution activity of 168.2 mmol g-1 h-1, which is 8.5 times higher than that of HOF-1022(CH3), and an apparent quantum yield (AQY) of 7.3% at 420 nm. This study represents the first demonstration of band-gap engineering in HOFs materials and establishes a generalizable molecular-design principle for developing high-performance HOFs-based photocatalysts.
Related Concept Videos
00:26Hydrogen Bonds
Hydrogen Bonds Control the World!
Because hydrogen has very weak electronegativity when it binds with a strongly electronegative atom, such as oxygen or nitrogen, electrons in the bond are unequally shared....
01:04Hydrogen Bonds
01:23IR Spectrum Peak Broadening: Hydrogen Bonding
However, the extent of hydrogen bonding influences the observed stretching frequency and band broadening. Intermolecular or intramolecular...
02:13Reduction of Alkenes: Catalytic Hydrogenation
Metals like palladium, platinum, and nickel are commonly used in their solid forms — fine powder on an inert surface. As these catalysts remain insoluble in the reaction mixture, they are referred to as heterogeneous catalysts.
The hydrogenation process takes place on the...
01:28Reduction of Benzene to Cyclohexane: Catalytic Hydrogenation
02:17Reduction of Alkenes: Asymmetric Catalytic Hydrogenation
The metal catalyst used can be either heterogeneous or homogeneous. When hydrogenation of an alkene generates a chiral center, a pair of enantiomeric products is expected to form. However, an enantiomeric excess of one of the products can be facilitated using an enantioselective reaction or an...