Ordered Integration and Heterogenization of Catalysts and Photosensitizers in Metal-/Covalent-Organic Frameworks for Boosting CO2 Photoreduction

ConspectusSolar-driven CO2 reduction into value-added chemicals, such as CO, HCOOH, CH4, and C2+ products, has been regarded as a potential way to alleviate environmental pollution and the energy crisis. In the past decades, numerous pioneered homogeneous catalytic systems composed of soluble photosensitizers (PSs) and catalytic active sites (CASs) have been explored for CO2 photoreduction. Nevertheless, inefficient electron migration based on random collision between CASs and PSs in homogeneous catalytic systems usually causes mediocre performance. Moreover, the relatively poor separation/recycling capability of the homogeneous systems has inevitably reduced their reusability and practicality. The rational combination of PSs and CASs have been proven to play critical roles in the development of highly efficient heterogeneous catalysts to improve their performance, such as anchoring them onto the solid matrixes or connecting them through bridging ligands. However, developing effective assembly strategies to achieve the ordered orientation and uniform heterogenization of PSs and CASs remains a great challenge, mainly due to the lack of crystallinity heterogeneous transformation and structural tailoring ability of traditional solid catalysts. Moreover, due to the lack of assembly and synthesis strategies, many efficient homogeneous photocatalytic systems are still unable to achieve high crystallinity heterogeneous transformation.Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent-organic frameworks (COFs) have recently attracted broad interest toward CO2 photocatalysis because of their diverse precursors, well-defined and tailorable structures, abundant exposed CASs and high surface areas, etc. Especially, the highly ordered orientation and uniform combination of PSs and CASs in MOFs and COFs are beneficial for improved light harvesting and charge separation, greatly helping to address the aforementioned challenges. Moreover, the well-defined crystalline structures of MOFs and COFs facilitate the establishment of the structure-activity relationship. Therefore, it is increasingly important to summarize the integration of PSs and catalysts to provide deep insight into MOF/COF-based photocatalysts.In this Account, we summarize the ordered integration of PSs and CASs in MOFs and COFs for CO2 photoconversion and describe the structure-activity relationships to guide the design of effective catalysts. Given the unique structural features of MOFs and COFs, we have emphasized the integration of PSs and CASs to optimize their photocatalytic performance, including the confinement of catalytic active nanoparticles (NPs) into photosensitizing frameworks, co-coordination of PSs and CASs, and ligand-to-metal charge-transfer and anchoring CASs on the secondary building units of the photosensitizing frameworks. The catalytic activity, selectivity, sacrificial agent, and stability of these systems were then discussed. More importantly, MOFs and COFs provide powerful platforms to understand the key steps for boosting CO2 photoreduction and exploring the catalytic mechanism, involving light harvesting, electron-hole separation/migration, and surface redox reactions. Finally, the perspective and challenge of CO2 photoreduction in MOF/COF platforms are further proposed and discussed. It is expected that this Account would provide deep insight into the integration of PSs and catalysts in COFs and MOFs with well-defined structures and afford significant inspiration toward enhanced performance in heterogeneous catalysis.