Ionic Covalent Organic Framework: What Does the Unique Ionic Site Bring to Us?

Ionic covalent organic frameworks featuring both crystallinity and charged sites have arose tremendous attention from scientific community. The adjustable textural structures, well-defined channels and abundant charged sites of ionic COFs facilitate great potential in diverse aspects, such as separation, ion conduction, sensing, catalysis and energy storage. In this review, we first introduced the design and construction of ionic covalent organic frameworks(COFs), and classified them according to the types of charged sites. We focused on the various applications of ionic COFs in diverse fields. The structure-function relationship was also explored in detail. Finally, the opportunities and challenges of ionic COFs were summarized to provide guidance for better design and application of ionic COFs.