Covalent Organic Frameworks as Promising Platforms for Efficient Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide: A Review

Abstract

In current research, achieving carbon neutrality has become a primary focus through the utilization of various conversion technologies that transform carbon dioxide (CO2) into valuable chemicals or fuels. Covalent organic frameworks (COFs), as emerging crystalline organic polymers, offer distinct advantages in CO2 conversion compared to other materials. These advantages include controllable nanoscale pores, predefined functional units, editable framework structures, and rich conjugated systems. The unique characteristics of COFs make them highly promising electrocatalysts for CO2 conversion. This review provides a comprehensive overview of pioneering works and recent research on the utilization of COF‐based materials as electrocatalysts for electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction. This review offers a comprehensive analysis of the design principles for various reactive sites, skeleton structures, pore functionalities, 3D frameworks, morphologies, and composite materials of COFs, aiming to enhance electrocatalysis. Finally, this review presents some recommendations for material design, reaction mechanisms, and theoretical computations to enhance the understanding of reaction mechanisms further and facilitate the design of high‐performance COF‐based electrocatalysts.