Faculty of Engineering, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Abstract
Covalent Organic Frameworks (COFs) are a new type of crystalline porous organic materials composed of covalently linked organic molecular modules. They possess the advantages of ordered channels, nano-scale pore structures, large specific surface areas and high crystallinity. Meanwhile, unlike traditional linear polymerization leading to uncontrolled product structures, COFs can be designed to form highly regular structures in two or even three dimensions. In addition, rigid structures can provide excellent stability for COFs. Furthermore, the designable structure allows functional groups to be introduced into COFs to meet the specific requirements of devices. As a result, COFs have been widely used in various fields. In particular, COFs have been found to be suitable for electrochemical energy conversion and storage applications. In this thesis, I present two conceptual applications of COFs as electrochemical active material in supercapacitors for energy storage and as electrocatalysts bearing the metal-nitrogen-carbon single-atom structure for the oxygen reduction reaction. The results demonstrated in this thesis represent the specific applications of COFs in electrochemistry, offering further possibilities and new ideas for developing novel materials for electrochemical energy storage and conversion
