Cationic Porous Organic Polymers for Photo- and Electrocatalytic Applications

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In this cooperative project, novel porous organic polymers with cationic charges (+POPs) will be synthesized and used for the photo- and electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 as well as water splitting. First, we will design and prepare various cationic monomers, which will then be polymerised by various methods into high surface area, amorphous and crystalline net- and frameworks with pi-conjugated backbones. The resulting materials will have a range of intriguing properties making them promising photo- and electrocatalysts: First, they are organic semiconductors, which can absorb light in a broad range of the visible spectrum. The cationic charges of the polymers will on the other hand enhance their polarity, wettability and dispersibility in water. By careful selection of the cationic building blocks the band energies of the materials will be tailored and we expect that we can create for the first time highly active metal-free photo- and electrocatalysts for the water oxidation reaction, i.e. the half reaction which is considered as the biggest hurdle for an efficient CO2 reduction and overall water splitting. Finally, the exchange of the counteranions within the networks will allow to systematically tune the properties of the networks