Flexible-Functionalized Cd-MOFs for Photocatalytic CO₂ Reduction: Tuning Framework Flexibility via Ligand Design

Abstract

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), as a new class of porous heterogeneous materials, have been considered as a novel adsorbent material for CO2 reduction in recent years due to their excellent adsorption capacity for CO2, which is of great potential for development. In this paper, a Cd-containing metal-organic skeleton (AQNU-10) was successfully synthesized by adjusting the reaction temperature and solvent polarity using a semirigid polycarboxylic acid, H3L, as a light-trapping organic ligand. It exhibited excellent photocatalytic performance, 128.81 µmol g-1 for CO without adding any co-catalyst and photosensitizer, and could be stably recycled at least five times. The intrinsic mechanism of AQNU-10 in the photocatalytic CO2 reduction process was explored through experimental characterization and testing.