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Photocatalysts accelerate the conversion of solar energy into chemical energy and can be performed for repeated cycles. These materials are used in applications ranging from photosynthesis to wastewater treatment. Metal–organic frameworks have become apparent as high-performing photocatalysts due to their ease of designability in organic linker/metal cluster choice and their well-ordered, high surface area structure. These characteristics can allow the incorporation of metal catalysts into the porous structure or post-synthetic approaches to improve performance.
In this cross-journal Collection between Communications Materials, Nature Communications, and Scientific Reports, we aim to bring together the latest advances in photocatalytic metal–organic frameworks. Topics of interest include but are not limited to the following:
Synthesis of metal–organic framework materials with enhanced photocatalytic properties
Characterisation, modelling, and mechanistic studies
Applications in photocatalytic water splitting, reduction and oxidation reactions, cross-coupling reactions, pollutant degradation reactions
Sustainability, reproducibility, and recycling
All participating journals invite submissions of original research articles, with Communications Materials and Nature Communications also considering Reviews and Perspectives which fall within the scope of the Collection. All the submissions will be subject to the same peer review process and editorial standard as regular Communications Materials, Nature Communications, and Scientific Reports articles.
This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation and SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy.
The authors report a family of photocatalysts containing Ce active sites and perylene diimide ligands for the aerobic oxidation of substituted toluene, ethylbenzene, benzyl alcohol, thioanisole, and benzylamine in acetonitrile.
Maji and coworkers report the selective conversion of CO2 to CH4 under visible light by utilizing a charge transfer complex within Zr-MOF-808 pores. The complex ultimately facilitates efficient multielectron reduction at the Zr-catalytic center.
A crystalline hetero-metallic cluster catalyst based on a covalent organic framework strategy is reported. The catalyst can facilitate both photocatalytic oxidative and reductive reactions leading to efficient production of HCOOH from CO2 and H2O.
Organolead halide hybrids are promising materials but are often unstable under moisture and/or light irradiation. Here, metal-organic frameworks containing lead halide secondary building units are shown to be stable for photocatalytic CO2 reduction with water vapor.
A Ni-based MOF catalyst is reported to facilitate the photocatalytic reduction of CO2 to CO, a low-value product. In tandem, the as-produced CO is used as a reactant in the Pd-catalyzed carbonylation of aryl halides and other fine organic chemicals.
Heterogeneous electron donor–acceptor (EDA) catalysis has seen limited progress to date. Here, the authors showcase a significant improvement in EDA interaction by employing a metal-organic framework (MOF) as the donor catalyst, underscoring the potential of MOFs in catalytic processes.
In this study, the authors explored the correlation between the structure and optoelectronic properties of metal organic frameworks for the removal of a harmful herbicide from water.
Photoelectrochemical systems have emerged as a sustainable technology for wastewater treatment. Here, Tang et.al report a bias-free driven ion assisted photoelectrochemical system that can utilize sodium chloride in seawater as a cost-effective additive for wastewater treatment.
The regulation of heterogeneous material properties to enhance the peroxymonosulfate activation remains a challenge. Here, authors synthesize S−scheme heterojunction PBA/MoS2@chitosan hydrogel to achieve photoexcitation synergistic peroxymonosulfate activation driven by interface electric field.