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Updated: Aug 15, 2026
08:42
Microfluidic-based Synthesis of Covalent Organic Frameworks (COFs): A Tool for Continuous Production of COF Fibers and Direct Printing on a Surface
Published on: July 10, 2017
Solvent-Induced Structural Modulation in Nanoscale Covalent Organic Frameworks Enables High-Performance NO2 Sensing
Yu Pan1,2,3, Xueying Kong3, Guangling Liang1,2
1State Key Laboratory of Structural Chemistry, Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Fuzhou, China.
Angewandte Chemie (International Ed. in English)
|August 13, 2026
Summary
We developed a solvent-induced method to create disordered covalent organic framework (COF) nanoparticles. This structural disorder enhances nitrogen dioxide (NO2) uptake and improves gas sensing performance.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Nanotechnology
- Chemical Engineering
Background:
- Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) exhibit tunable structures for various applications.
- Porphyrin-based COFs are synthesized with protonated units in aqueous acetic acid.
- Controlling COF crystallinity is crucial for optimizing performance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a solvent-induced strategy for structural disorder in porphyrin-based COF nanoparticles (nanoCOFs).
- To investigate the impact of structural disorder on gas sensing properties.
- To optimize nanoCOFs for enhanced NO2 detection.
Main Methods:
- Synthesized porphyrin-based nanoCOFs in aqueous acetic acid.
- Applied post-treatment with polar organic solvents to induce deprotonation and structural disorder.
- Analyzed structural changes using control experiments focusing on protonation, interlayer interactions, and solvent properties.
Main Results:
- Solvent treatment deprotonated porphyrin units and reduced nanoCOF crystallinity by disrupting interlayer stacking.
- Key factors influencing disorder include porphyrin protonation, interlayer interactions, and solvent characteristics.
- Solvent-treated nanoCOF-366 showed enhanced NO2 uptake and superior chemiresistive sensing.
Conclusions:
- Solvent-induced structural disorder in nanoCOFs enhances accessibility of active sites.
- The developed strategy effectively regulates COF structure for advanced gas sensing.
- Achieved record response (1083.0 to 10 ppm NO2) and ultra-low limit of detection (0.21 ppb) for NO2 sensing.
