Dangling bond formation on COF nanosheets for enhancing sensing performances

• Published in: Chemical science (Cambridge) Vol. 14; no. 18; pp. 4824 - 4831
• Main Authors: Chen, Yong-Jun, Liu, Ming, Chen, Jie, Huang, Xin, Li, Qiao-Hong, Ye, Xiao-Liang, Wang, Guan-E, Xu, Gang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Royal Society of Chemistry 10.05.2023; The Royal Society of Chemistry
• Subjects: Chemistry; Gas sensors; Mass transport; Metallizing; Nanosheets; Nitrogen dioxide; Room temperature
• ISSN: 2041-6520; 2041-6539
• DOI: 10.1039/d3sc00562c

Dangling bond formation for COF materials in a rational manner is an enormous challenge, especially through post-treatment which is a facile strategy while has not been reported yet. In this work, a "chemical scissor" strategy is proposed for the first time to rationally design dangling bonds in COF materials. It is found that Zn 2+ coordination in post-metallization of TDCOF can act as an "inducer" which elongates the target bond and facilitates its fracture in hydrolyzation reactions to create dangling bonds. The number of dangling bonds is well-modulated by controlling the post-metallization time. Zn-TDCOF-12 shows one of the highest sensitivities to NO 2 in all reported chemiresistive gas sensing materials operating under visible light and room temperature. This work opens an avenue to rationally design a dangling bond in COF materials, which could increase the active sites and improve the mass transport in COFs to remarkably promote their various chemical applications. A facile "chemical scissor" strategy is first proposed to rationally design a dangling bond for COF materials, which remarkably promotes their gas sensing performance.