MOFs Conferred with Transient Metal Centers for Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2020 Sep 21;59(39):17182-17186. doi: 10.1002/anie.202002375. Epub 2020 Jul 27.

Abstract

Highly effective photocatalysts for the hydrogen-evolution reaction were developed by conferring the linkers of NH2 -MIL-125(Ti), a metal-organic framework (MOF) constructed from TiOx clusters and 2-aminoterephthalic acid (linkers), with active copper centers. This design enables effective transfer of electrons from the linkers to the transient Cu2+ /Cu+ centers, leading to 7000-fold and 27-fold increase of carrier density and lifetime of photogenerated charges, respectively, as well as high-rate production of H2 under visible-light irradiation. This work provides a novel design of a photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution using non-noble Cu2+ /Cu+ as co-catalysts.

Keywords: copper; electron transport; hydrogen evolution; metal-organic frameworks; photocatalysis.