Nowadays, the energy crisis and environmental pollution have become worldwide
concerns. Photocatalysis, as a green and sustainable technology that uses solar energy for either
hydrogen production via water splitting or environmental degradation of pollutants, is
considered to be a promising strategy to overcome these issues [1,2]. However, searching for
highly efficient, low-cost, stable, visible-light-responsive photocatalysts is still a challenge in
photocatalysis field [3,4]. Among various organic materials, covalent organic frameworks (COFs)
show the highest potential for photocatalysis owing to their excellent properties: tunability,
crystallinity, stability, large surface area and high porosity, low density [5-7]. Nevertheless, until
now, only a small number of COF-based photocatalysts have been explored and development of
new modification method (including pore engineering and proper functionalization) of COFs to
obtain visible-light-active photocatalytic system is highly desired. The integration of functional
materials such as quantum dots (QDs) with COFs can be a novel and promising strategy to extend
their absorption edge into the visible light region, improve charge carriers separation and
transfer and thus enhance their photocatalytic performances [8].
Therefore, the aims of this project are: (1) to develop a new class of porous organic
framework-based photocatalysts by combining COFs with heavy metal free quantum dots into
a hybrid system exhibiting enhanced photocatalytic activity; (2) to investigate the influence of
QDs size, amount and attachment method to the surface of COF materials on the optical, surface
and photocatalytic properties; and (3) to measure the efficiency of covalent organic frameworkbased
hybrids in hydrogen photogeneration and pollutants photodegradation reactions.
