Pyrimidine-Functionalized Covalent Organic Framework and its Cobalt Complex as an Efficient Electrocatalyst for Oxygen Evolution Reaction

A pyrimidine-modified covalent organic framework (COF-Pyr) was designed to be synthesized via the Povarov reaction. The nitrogen atom on the pyrimidine showed excellent coordination ability to metal ions. Their stable metal composite material (Co@COF-Pyr) exhibited remarkable performance for electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in 1.0 m KOH aqueous solution. The overpotential was 450 mV at 10 mA cm(-2). The Co@COF-Pyr with large specific surface area (392 m(2) g(-1)) and regular crystal structure provided free passage for H2O to move and make them fully contact with the uniformly dispersed cobalt ions on the surface. Thus, the turnover frequency of Co@COF-Pyr was 0.1 s(-1) at the overpotential of 370 mV, which was higher than most reported OER catalysts. This work provided a new way to design and prepare nitrogen-containing heterocyclic functionalized COFs. They can be combined with metal ions to expand the application of COFs in the field of electrocatalysis.

Automated summary

A pyrimidine-modified COF-Pyr was synthesized via the Povarov reaction and combined with metal ions to form Co@COF-Pyr. This stable material exhibited remarkable OER performance in 1.0M KOH aqueous solution, with a large specific surface area and regular crystal structure providing efficient oxygen electrocatalysis.